


Jacob's Ladder

by bronzetaraj



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Baby, Backstory Myths, Blue Eyed Wolves, Breastfeeding, Deaton being mysterious, F/M, Peter being sneaky, alpha pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 01:17:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 99,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bronzetaraj/pseuds/bronzetaraj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the pack wants after the drama of Season 2 is some rest, but with the arrival of the Alpha pack, Boyd and Erica are missing and Lydia's whole life is turning upside down it seems like rest is the one thing that they will never get.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A babe in the woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [athena606](https://archiveofourown.org/users/athena606/gifts).



> This is a strange little story that started out as a thank you to the amazing Athena606 for making a vid for my other story Truth and Consequences and has taken on a bit of a life of it's own. I how you enjoy!

After the confrontation with Gerard and Jackson's transition Derek had hoped that life would be quiet for at least a little while. However when he returned to his burned out family home the next day the front door had been marked by the Alpha pack and after a few days of searching it was clear that Boyd and Erica had been taken as well. Derek and Scott had found signs of a struggle in the woods and a short blood trail that disappeared after about 100 yards. Once it was clear that they were not going to find any more evidence in the reserve, they called everyone to meet back at the Hale house and form a plan for recovering their lost pack members.

As Derek approached the house he was exhausted. There were times that he felt like he hadn't had a good night's sleep since the fire, his dreams haunted him, the faces of his family haunted him and now the faces of his pack, of these children he had transitioned into monsters for his own benefit haunted him as well. He was responsible for them; each of them were outsiders, loners and desperate for some type of contact so he had used that to manipulate them into taking the bite and joining him so he would be safer. But the thing was—he couldn't keep them safe, he had proven it time and again—with Jackson, with Erica and Boyd, that he could not keep them safe from hunters or the supernatural and now he was afraid that no matter what choice he made, someone was going to get hurt. The oppression of these thoughts weighed on the young Alpha, making his feel weary to his bones.

Taking a deep sigh, running his hand over his face as he mounted the steps of the dilapidate house he was startled by a sharp, shrill wail filling the air, scenting the environment quickly he looked down to find a very tiny, very naked infant screaming on his doorstep.

Lydia was sleeping, or at least she was trying to sleep, lost in that daze between sleep and dreams. Over the last week her entire world had changed, but somehow it all started to make more sense. This world was a better fit. Werewolves were real. Not only were they real, but she had been attacked by, haunted by, and resurrected one not to mention the fact that she helped her ex-boyfriend turn into one after he spent months killing people as a giant lizard. That's right, ex-boyfriend, because even though her love for Jackson is what saved his life and helped him transition into a wolf, they had both decided that the love they share for one another was no longer romantic.

Both Jackson and Lydia were lost souls; they were beautiful and intelligent, but they were also lonely, destructive and vindictive. They were the alphas in their world and they had been draw to each other because they recognize similar drives and insecurities. They understood each other, they loved each other, but as a couple they were toxic for each other because they exploited those insecurities and brought out the worst in each other. They decided to be there for one another always as friends, but their time as lovers was over for now.

Oddly enough, Lydia felt like a great weight had been removed from her shoulders when they made that decision, like she was free from the role she had cast herself in and now she could just love her friend with no requirements and honestly, Jackson was in no place for anyone putting requirements on him right now either. They were both traumatized from the past few months, hell from the past decade in their own skin and now it was time to heal that damage and grow into the people they would be. So now, as she tried to sleep, she wondered what her role in this whole crazy werewolf pack was going to be. Yeah, her life was beyond fucked up but it was hers to control now. What she didn't know at the time was that it was just going to get weirder as this night went on.

Just as she succumbed to her exhaustion, Lydia felt more than heard a sharp cry. As the shrill sound got louder, it seemed to surround her, the noise piercing her body and radiating through her torso. She could feel sharp pains, like hunger pangs, filling her belly and her chest felt heavy and tight. Her skin was cold, shivers passed through her body and she could feel her nipples tighten unpleasantly against the thin cotton of her nightgown as a deep chill took over her. Before she had commanded her brain to move, before she was really awake, she found herself walking through the woods barefoot in nothing but her knee length, white cotton gown. It was cold out tonight, in the 40's, and Lydia had no idea why she was wondering through the woods again, she only knew that she had to follow the sound of that cry, that she had to help.

Derek stared at the screaming child for a few moments, trying to figure out if this was really happening or if he had finally lost his mind due to lack of sleep and too much time spent around crazy teenage werewolves. It was Peter's approach that shook him out of his revelry, "What the hell is that?"

"Um, it looks like a baby," Derek responded, knowing that is sounded stupid.

"Why would someone leave an infant out here in the middle of nowhere, are they trying to kill it?"

Looking at the infant, still screaming from under the Alpha pack tag, Derek shrugged, "How the hell would I know, I just got here, there is no scent even on the baby? How is that possible that a living being not have a scent?"

"It's not," Peter proclaimed as he marched up the stairs, lifting the child for the first time, sniffing it, "But it would seem that this little one does not." He looked intrigued, still holding the child out as if he were observing it while the child screamed his head off, his skin turning a deep red and his veins popping to the surface.

"Jesus Peter stop it, you are scaring the poor thing to death." Derek scolded, shucking off his coat and wrapping the infant in it before entering the house as the others arrived.

Five minutes later, the baby, still screaming, lay in the center of the table in what was left of the Hale living room. All of the pack members had formed a semicircle around the table, staring at the squirming baby.

"I think we should call my dad, he can, I don't know, put it in foster care of something," Stiles suggested, looking thoroughly perplexed.

"Yeah and tell him what, make sure you put him in a good werewolf home where they will teach him to hunt bunnies and Christian values?" Jackson snapped.

"We don't know that the baby is a wolf," Scott corrected.

"Yeah, someone just happened to make their way miles into the woods to drop off their newborn on this haunted Hale house doorstep, this kid is a freak of some sort," Jackson replied.

"He is not a freak," Isaac began.

"Shut up everyone!" Derek yelled, making the baby scream even louder.

"Oh, good work, sourwolf" Stiles smirked, "Amazing childcare skills you have there."

Derek spun around to unleash some frustration on the smartass human only to be stopped by the appearance of Lydia at the door behind Stiles, "Lydia" he whispered, "what are you doing," his statement drifted off as he took in the redhead— dirty feet, thin white nightgown with silver buttons and lace trim. She was shivering, her lips tinged in blue, but what really shocked Derek was two spreading wet spots on the front of her gown, just over her breasts.

All of the men in the room watched in shock as the petit girl approached the squawking baby, lifting him gently as she unbuttons the top four buttons of her gown, bringing the tiny child to her breast, she lets out a slight gasp as the baby closes his velvet lips around her left nipple, sucking with more strength than his small size portrayed. After a moment, Lydia felt the pressure in her chest release as the child pulled in his first mouthful of milk, resting his tiny hand on her chest, he calmed almost instantly. After a moment of staring at the child in her arms, Lydia suddenly looks up at the boys and asked, "So are all of you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to get this baby a blanket, he is freezing."


	2. A Goddess Discovered

Isaac jumped into motion running up the stairs at werewolf speed and returning with an old quilt and a thick, soft flannel shirt that must have been Derek's because when he guided her right arm into the shirt before supporting the baby while she slid her left arm in the shirt hung nearly to her knees. It was however, very warm and it smelled like something earthy and comforting. Isaac guided Lydia to the couch, helping her sit down without disturbing the nursing child before wrapping the thick quilt around the baby and Lydia. "Thank you Isaac," she smiled gratefully as she tucked the quilt around the infant's head. Looking up, she noticed that all of boys had followed them further into the room, all still looking completely confused; Scott and Derek were both trying not to openly stare at her while Stiles was staring mouth opening and closing like he wanted to say something but was without words, Peter watched her like she was a science experiment and Jackson just gaped at her with a look of terror on his face.  
"This is totally not how I imaged seeing your boobs for the first time" Stiles admitted, "I mean, do they just do that? Like all of them?" Everyone in the room turned to look at him with a look that said 'moron' before turning back to Lydia who muttered "Moron," rolling her eyes but not breaking her stare at the baby.

"Lydia is there something you would like to share with us?" Scott asked gently.

"All of you are openly staring at my rack, so no, I think I have shared enough," Lydia snapped, causing all of them to blush and look anywhere but at her. For a moment the only sound filling the room was the gentle sucking and mewing sounds coming from the baby.

"Okay, so I am just going to say it, Lydia is that your baby?" Jackson blurted, terrified of the answer.

"Yeah Jackson, I was secretly pregnant and hid our son from you and a town full of werewolves so I could what, give birth in a bathroom and leave him in a dumpster or on a porch like some dumbass Lifetime movie of the week." She rolled her eyes, running her finger over the baby's fine dark hair.

"O-K, so you didn't pull a Teen Mom on us, but that still doesn't explain what is going on," Scott states, trying to calm everyone down. Lydia resists the urge to roll her eyes again Scott McCall the pacifist werewolf.

Derek pipes up for the first time, "I came home and found him on the porch, he was just laying there, when I approached him he started screaming, didn't stop until," He gestured dumbly at Lydia, she nodded, "I heard his cry, I was in bed at my house and I heard him cry and I felt," She sighed, not good at sharing, "I felt pain in my belly, like hunger pangs and pressure in my chest. Before I knew it, I was walking through the woods, freezing, but the cold and hunger weren't my own, they were his," She looks down at the baby again, running a finger from his temple to his tiny jaw as he continued to drink, just then the baby opened his eyes and they flashed vibrant blue at her before closing again sated. "Wow," Lydia jumped a little, "Did you see that?" She looked up at the others who all nodded.

"So I guess he is a wolf?" Stiles throws his hands up in the air.

"Yeah," Peter began, "And not just any wolf either, he is a beta companion, probably from the Hale line."

Derek looks at the wall behind them, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"What the hell does that mean?" Stiles asks in a tone that says he is so sick of this mythology bullshit. Peter puffs up a bit, loving this role as story teller and holder of the knowledge, "Hale wolves are descended from a line of companions of Cerridwen, the Celtic goddess of the moon and of fertility, we are marked by our blue eyes. If you have noticed, most of you have gold eyes in beta form, but Derek and Jackson, theirs are blue," he paused for effect. Lydia and Derek rolled their eyes in unison at his dramatics.

Scott piped up, "So what does that mean and how the hell does Lydia play into this?" His frustration was clear.

Isaac piped up, "And Jackson is not a Hale," he pointed out, obviously not wanting Jackson to usurp his new family.

"True, Jackson is not a Hale, but he has been in close proximity to Lydia and it was her who resurrected him as a wolf, so I would wager that his relationship to her determined his role as companion." He looked from Jackson to Lydia to Isaac before moving own with his story, "The druids were a nature based religion, but women were specifically tied to the moon and sea. Only women served the goddess of the moon and fertility Cerridwen. The companions were very special members of Druid society; it was their responsibility to guard the daughters of Cerridwen, the priestesses of the moon and of fertility. We guarded them from attackers, warlords and kings and from other supernatural threats. In return, they provided for us, protected us and our line from hunters and other predators. Lydia, I believe that you are a modern day descendant of the daughters Cerridwen, which is why Lydia's body reacted to the baby, he was starving and freezing to death and she heard his cries, her body led her to him and is providing the sustenance he needs. She is a priestess, a daughter Cerridwen."

"But breastfeeding? Really?" Stiles arched an eyebrow, still incredulous at the insane things that filled his life. Rolling his eyes, Peter reiterated, "Goddess of the Moon and Fertility, he is a starving newborn what did you expect her to feed him with moonbeams?" Scoffing he turned to face the girl in question.  
"Well isn't that swell, but it still doesn't explain why the baby is here? Where did he come from?" Jackson asked.

"His mother or whoever left him here must have known that there was an Alpha companion and his priestess here, they knew that he would be safe here."  
"Wait, what was that about Alpha companion and his priestess?" Jackson piped up, emphasizing the his aspect of the question. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did Lydia somehow belong to Derek because Jackson was totally not okay with that!

"Not all Hales are companions, they are special and they are marked from birth with the blue eyes. It is rare that a companion becomes an Alpha, Derek did because there are no other Hale's left in his pack so he is an Alpha companion. He still acts as the priestess's companion but she is also beholden to him; this means that his life is tied to that of the priestess, she is his Alpha female, she provides the balance he needs to the moon urges and she protects his pack, like she is already doing with the baby."

"What the hell does that mean?" Stiles voice breaks a bit as he shouts. "Did you seriously just use the word 'beholden'?"

"For now," Lydia pipes up, shifting the now sleeping baby to her shoulder where he snuggles into her exposed skin as she gently rubs his back. "We need to get him checked out and see if there is any clue to his parentage." Looking to Derek, she adds, "I say we take him to see Deaton, the hospital will ask questions we cannot answer. We also need some baby stuff, so Scott, Stiles, do you think you can handle that? Get diapers, wipes, clothes, blankets, baby wash anything else you can think of and we are going to need a car seat. While you are doing that, Isaac and Jackson do a sweep of the woods and see if you can pick up anything from who dropped him off. Derek, Peter, let's go," she stands, pulling the quilt tighter around the infant as everyone stared for a moment, "Let's move boys," she snapped and they all jumped to, moving to complete their tasks. Jackson grumbles, "Since when does she give orders?" But at Lydia's sharp look and Derek's growl, he quickly followed Isaac out of the door and into the woods. Turning, Derek handed a credit card to Stiles before loading Lydia and the baby into his car, Peter climbing into the passenger seat smugly.

As the trio enters Dr. Deaton's office the man meets them with a tired, yet kind smile that fades at the sight of Peter, with a sigh, he opens the swinging gate, allowing them through, "Now Lydia, why don't you explain to me what has happened tonight?"

Sighing, Lydia launches into the story of the evening, her eyes and hands never leaving the baby as she spoke. "Okay, now Lydia do you mind if I take a look at the baby?" Reluctantly, she lays the baby on the metal exam table, still wrapped up in the quilt. Smiling, Dr. Deaton slowly, gently unwraps the child, careful not to wake him. Taking in the tiny child's form, he lifts the baby to weigh him and measure him before performing a quick exam. Looking at them he smiles, "Okay, he is tiny, I would say at least three to four weeks premature and he has some signs of exposure. Any idea how long he was out there in the cold?" He asks, Derek shakes his head, "No, but it was late when I found him and he was cold to the touch."

Nodding, Deaton continued, "He is five pounds and two ounces, 17 inches long. He is overall healthy but I would say that is solely because Lydia got there in time, another hour and he would have gone in shock, you nursing him was the best possible way to warm him up and fight the hypothermia and malnutrition. He is going to need a lot of love and care over the next few weeks because he is not out of the woods yet so to speak," He warned, "Preemies can have trouble maintaining their body temperature, reflux, which can cause them to vomit and become even more malnourished and dehydrated and they can develop respiratory problems. He was left in the woods for hours so the next few weeks are going to be crucial to his development." He pauses, looking to Lydia delicately, "I am not sure how you feel about this, um, development, but it really is best for him if you keep nursing him as long as you can. He is much more likely to reject formula and any weight loss or dehydration would be very harmful too him not to mention the bonding is important to his overall development."

After a moment's consideration, Lydia nodded, "I will see what I can do, right now I am more concerned about where he came from and why someone left him in the middle of nowhere to die." She states, lifting the baby who is now wake, quietly watching her.

"Well they didn't really leave him nowhere, they left him where only a wolf would find him, specifically where Derek would find him, maybe who ever left him, wanted him with you." Deaton suggested.

"Who in the hell would leave a baby with me?" Derek scoffed, he couldn't even take care of the teenage werewolves in his charge, much less and infant.

"Someone who had no choice perhaps," Deaton offered, "The baby was born early and from the state of his umbilical cord, I would say that he was delivered within the last twelve hours and not in a hospital. Now his mother would not have been able to travel without leaving a heavy scent of blood so it is safe to assume that she did not leave him for you, she may not even still be alive, but someone intentionally left him for you to find and the fact that Lydia heard him makes me think that he is a companion."  
"Yeah, we've already established that doc, not that I really understand what the hell that means, but I still don't know why I was drawn to him." Lydia asked, pacing with the baby, rubbing his back and legs, still trying to warm him up.

"Well, if he is a companion it is quite clear, Derek was the closest Alpha companion nearby, they are very rare, and the fact that Beacon Hills has its own priestess in Ms. Martin here made it the safest place for the baby to be left if he were in danger."  
"Yeah, Peter said that too, that companions are rare, why is that?" Lydia asked, confused.

"Well, the Hales are the oldest line of wolves to swear fealty to the Goddess Cerridwen, there are others but the bond is the strongest with the Hales due to often intermarriage. Derek's grandmother was a priestess, which is way there were several human members of the family," Derek's face registered his shock, "What?"

"Yes, I told you, your mother and I were close and her mother was a priestess, her father was obviously a wolf, but the children born of mixed blood lines are more prone to psychic phenomena, ability with majicks and psychic connections. This is how the baby reached out to Lydia, you said that you physically felt his fear and hunger and coldness, and your body responded to it because he is a companion and it is your duty to protect him. In essence, he called to you and you responded."

Lydia nodded, "So for now, until we find out who he belongs to, it is our job to keep him safe." She surmised, pulling him tighter to her chest.

"Yes, it is your duty by birth to protect a companion, just like it is Derek's duty to protect you and any innocent or underage wolf in his territory, that is why companions who are also Alpha's are rare because in the past the companion's total devotion was to the priestess and the Alpha's total devotion was to protecting his or her pack, this is a rare case when the priestess is pack."  
"Why is that rare, wouldn't it just be easier to protect the priestess if she were a wolf?" Lydia asks.

"They can't take the bite, it is prohibited," Deaton answered, Lydia ponders that for a moment before turning to Peter, narrowing her eyes, "So when you bit me, you were trying to do what? Experiment to see what the reaction would be to a priestess wolf? Wondering what type of Frankenstein's monster you could make and wield?" Her voice was bitter.

"Well my dear I had to try didn't I, I mean you would be an absolutely divine Alpha Female," He responded all arrogance.

"She is," Deaton responded, eliciting and unanimous "huh?" from the room.

"When she responded to the baby's call, she responded to the needs of the weakest member of her pack, she adopted him so to speak and in doing so she claimed the open spot for Alpha female, by providing for the needs of all of the pack, she is the leader of the pack."  
Derek considered this for a moment and it was true, Lydia was by far the smartest, most useful member of the pack and she had done more for the pack members including Scott, Jackson and the baby with less information and power than anyone else except maybe Stiles, so yeah, he supposed she was the current Alpha female.

As Lydia shifted the baby again, rubbing his skin gently Dr. Deaton reached out and stayed her hand, "Wait, what is that?" He moved closer, inspecting a tiny cut on the baby's mid back.

"Is that a cut? Did he get it from the porch?" She asks, looking at the small wound.

"No, there isn't a splinter or any debris and the wound is clean like it is from a very sharp object. If I had to guess, I would say that it was a wound gained during his birth, which leads me to believe that he was delivered via cesarean not vaginally. He also doesn't have any of the typical markers of the trauma incurred during birth."

"Wait so someone cut him out of his mother but he wasn't born in a hospital? Who the hell would do that?" Lydia asks, pulling the baby closer and trying to repress the sick feeling in her stomach at the thought of some poor woman having her child cut out of her and then having him taken away.

"I am afraid I can't answer that Ms. Martin, but it does make the situation more precarious." Deaton answers with a grim tone.

"Okay, we will deal with that later, is there anything else that we need to know about this kid before we go?" Derek asked curtly as he heard Scott and Stiles pull up outside. He knew that Lydia was getting freaked out and he needed to redirect the conversation for the moment.

"Just keep your eyes open, he is important and he needs you to protect him. I would like to see him in a week to monitor his progress but if there are any problems at all please call me okay?" He said more to Lydia than anyone else. She nodded, tucking the blanket around the baby again, "Wait," Derek stilled her with a hand on her wrist, a spark coiled its way through her at the skin contact and she registered that this was the first time she ever remembers him touching her, when she had resurrected Peter she had touched him but he had been drugged at the time, the blank look on her face must have confused him because he continued to explain, "Scott and Stiles just pulled up, let's get him dressed before we go back outside." She nods as the two boys literally tumble into the room carrying what looks to be an entire baby section.

Lydia finds herself laughing, "Did you leave anything in the store?"  
"Uh, not much," Stiles scratched his head, "But at least he won't be naked anymore." She smiles her response as she starts to dig through the bags, first taking the diapers and wipes and then asking, "Stiles can you fish an outfit out of there, preferable something warm and a onesie and some socks?" He looks confused for a moment before diving in and returning just as Lydia is stripping the old diaper off the baby. After cleaning him up a bit, she puts a fresh diaper on him and turns to Stiles who hands her a pile of clothes, rolling her eyes, she finds a light green onesie and puts it on the baby, it is a little big but it is better than nothing. After putting socks on the child, she pulls on a puffy snow suit that is light blue with little teddy bears on it over his clothes. She finished the outfit with little yellow mitts for his hands and a fuzzy yellow hat. Hearing a noise behind her she sees Dr. Deaton, "You are taking all of this remarkable well," He comments.

"Well, this is my life now, one tempest after another; at least this one is my own crazy history pulling me into it. For the last year I haven't known what was going on, not with my closet friends, not with my boyfriend, not even with my own mind, at least with this I can maybe learn a little more about myself and my role in all of this." She smiles sadly, before looking back at the baby, "Plus, this little guy is innocent in all of this and right now I may be the only person who can help him, I owe him that, to at least try."  
Deaton nods, thinking that she does make a good Alpha female, as he exits the room, he passes Derek carrying a yellow car seat in the hallway, as the Alpha enters the room, he is nervous. Lydia is a bit of a mystery to him; every time he thinks he has the girl figured out, she does something that sends him reeling. First she is bitch, then she is brilliant, then she is selfish then she saves Jackson with her unselfish love, then she is isolating herself away from the supernatural and then she is breastfeeding a baby werewolf in his living room.

Lurking by the door for a moment, he watches her finish dressing the baby, she looks stoic as she lifts him in her arms, "Um, Lydia," he pauses, not sure what to say.

"Don't you dare apologize to me about this," She cuts him off in a low voice, not turning to face him yet.

"What?" He is a bit baffled as she turns to face him, cradling the tiny baby in her arms.  
"You were going to apologize and then add this to the list of reasons that you should have died in the fire with your family and then you were going to brood for all of eternity, am I right?" She fixes him with a stare, "Well stop it. What happened to your family, was not your fault and the sooner that you get over that idea the better it is for your whole pack."  
"Lydia you have no idea what you are talking about," He begins, obviously pissed.

"I was in Peter's head, remember? When he attacked me, he created a shared consciousness so yeah, I do know what happened back then and I still know that it is not your fault. You did not start that fire, you were a kid who got seduced by an evil bitch who used you but you are not at fault for her actions and the sooner you realize that and stop trying to pay penitence for something that you didn't do, the sooner you can become the Alpha that you were meant to be. So climb down off the cross Derek, we need the wood," her resolution is shocking to Derek, "And if I am going to be in a pack with you leading it, you better be on your 'A' game," sighing, she continues, "For now, we need to focus on our little charge," she unconsciously rubs the baby's back, "because it is going to take both of us to protect him,"  
"Wait, Lydia, you," Derek stammered for a moment, "it is not your job to protect him."

"Yeah well unless you suddenly figured out how to grow boobs and feed him, where he goes, I go." Scoffing she cuts her eyes at him, "And neither of us is going back to that death trap you call a house. I mean I am amazed he didn't get tuberculosis just being in there for an hour." Rolling his eyes, Derek asked, "Fine princess, where do you want him to stay? Because as far as I am concerned it is my job to protect him as a member of my pack until we figure this out, so that means where he goes I go." Derek retorted, knowing full well that she was right and that the baby, or anyone else for that matter, had no business living in the burned out Hale house but he was not going to admit that she was right.

"For tonight, my mom is out of town so we can stay at my place and then we can work up a plan for where to go from there." She states tiredly, her yawn reminding Derek that it is the middle of the night and they woke her up at some point. She packs the baby into the car seat and Stiles and Scott load the baby stuff in the trunk of his Camaro and take Peter back with them. Derek and Lydia drive to her house in silence, both tired and too confused to really focus on the day that they have had.


	3. Pack Packing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please post a comment if you like it! XOXO

Once they arrive Lydia lets them in and announces that she is going to take a shower before the baby wakes up. He nods and sits the baby, still in his carrier, down and opens several bags to make sure they have the essentials. Hearing the shower cut off and Lydia moving around in the bathroom, Derek notices the baby starting to fuss. As he wakes up, waves his little fist in the air, like he is literally fighting with sleep before his tiny mouth opens in a wail.

Derek crosses to him, unhooking the convoluted seat and lifting the tiny child into his arms, the baby barely weighs five pounds according to Deaton and Derek is shocked at how light he is, smaller than a cat. He lets out another wail and Derek tries rocking him awkwardly a bit to little avail. Just as he is feeling like a complete failure Lydia enters the room wearing light peach pajama's her hair wrapped up in the towel. Derek notices that her pajama's are a soft cotton fabric and he wants to feel them, he doesn't ask of course but he does allow his fingers to brush against the fabric of her sleeve as he hands her the baby, "Oh give him to me," She states softly, "I think he is hungry again." She explains, like she wants him to know that he wasn't doing anything wrong. As she makes her way to the bed, she is already unbuttoning the top few buttons of her top, and before Derek can offer to turn around she already has her top open and the baby latched on. He has to admit he is fascinated by this, Derek has seen women breastfeed before but the fact that Lydia would and could do it for a child that she has never met before is surreal to him. He tries to look away as her eyes catch him but she stops him, "It's okay, I know you are not trying to catch a peak, I mean it is not weird or anything, this is just a crazy situation." He nods, relieved that she is not mad at him.

"Thanks, sorry I, it is just amazing that you can do that, that any woman can but specifically that you can and he is not yours." She nods, lightly running her fingers up and down the baby's arm, "You know in the wild, Alpha females will adopt orphans sometimes and they can nurse them. Their body recognizes the baby's need to survive and it allows the adoptive Alpha female to provide for the baby. I think that this is the same, he needed me," Looking up at Derek she amends, "He needed us." Derek nods quietly, again impressed by this girl who he thought was so selfish and shallow. "Hey," she looks up at him, locking eyes and smiling softly, "we need to give him a name, I mean I know that he isn't ours, but we need to be able to call him something," she suggest.

He nods, "Okay, do you have any ideas?"

"Um, I don't know. What do you think?" She quirks her head in an adorable way.

He looks down shyly, "My dad's name was Jacob; I have always liked that name."

Smiling, she looks to him, "Jacob," She weighs the name, "It means 'may God protect'. I think this little one needs everyone he can get protecting him," She ran her finger over the baby's nose and cheek, smiling as his eyes fluttered closed as he continued sucking, "What do you think Jacob?" She smiles, more serene than Derek had ever seen the girl, "I think it is perfect, just like our little man here." Derek finds himself smiling with her.

"Lydia how are we going to play this?" he sounds reluctant to ask, like he is uncomfortable asking for her guidance in plotting this, "You know that no one is going to believe our story especially if there was some sort of foul play with his birth mother and even if they do, they are not going to let us keep him." Nodding she gently shifted the baby, buttoning her shirt back up, "Yeah, but if I tell them all that he is my baby there will be less questions."

"Lydia, do you really want to do that? I mean do you want to be a sixteen year old with a baby?" He questioned, shocked that she would suggest that first.  
"In case you have been sleeping through the last four hours or so, he pick me, actually he picked us, so I think that it is the easiest way for me to keep the baby with me and if my mom sees me breastfeeding a baby that I am telling her is mine, what is she going to go, demand a DNA test?"  
"She could or she could take you to a doctor who will tell her that you did not give birth, I mean they can tell those things right?" Derek sounds younger than he ever has.

"Leave that to me," she scoffed lightly, "trust me the minute that my mom thinks I have blemished the family reputation she will be trying to ship me off so fast my head will spin."

"They will assume that the baby is Jackson's," He warns her.

"Jackson and I aren't together, if I tell people that we broke up because I was having someone else's baby they will be too enraptured in the gossip to question it." She acts as if she has this all figured out but Derek is still reluctant, he doesn't want her to throw her life away over this. He decides to let the matter rest for now and let her get some rest. "We'll talk more in the morning, get some sleep." He moves to sweep the yard and house before locking everything up tightly and checking back in on Lydia and Jacob. As he re-enters her room, he sees her on her side, curled around the tiny boy as if she is protecting him even in her sleep, the baby's hand is reaching for her in his sleep, as if he is assuring himself that she is still there. Reaching over, Derek turns out the bedside lamp, shrugging out of his coat, he makes his way over to the plush white chair in the corner of her room. Sitting down he settles in for a night of guarding the both of them while they slept.

Jacob wakes up every two hours to eat and by sunrise, Lydia is tired when she wakes up to the baby's sharp cries. Sighing, she opens her eyes to find Derek Hale holding Jacob, who fits perfectly on his forearms, trying to shush the baby with little bouncing movements. In his grey hendly and jeans, sans typical leather jacket and boots Derek looked younger than Lydia had ever seen him look, more at ease as he was making faces at the baby trying to get him to quiet down. Giggling, Lydia shifted, "Don't worry I'm awake," she said sleepily, reaching for the baby.

"I changed him but I think he is hungry again," He says as he hands the boy to her, "This baby eats more than a teenage werewolf," he scoffs as he stands and asks to use the restroom. When he returns, Lydia is feeding the baby, holding him with one arm and booting up her lap top with the other. Derek chuckled, amazed at her ability to multitask, "What are you doing?"

"Research," she said shortly as if that should be obvious.

"On," he led.

"A few things, one Celtic mythology and werewolves, two child protection laws in California and three, apartments because I am going to need a place to stay before my mom gets back." She said glibly as she switched the baby to the other breast causing Derek to look away quickly, still embarrassed at her ease with nudity.

"Well, I can help with the research for the first and I can help with the third, but why are you researching the second?"

"Um, I know my mom and she is going to make this difficult, I need to know what my rights are if she buys me as his mother and if she attempts to take him from me," She admits reluctantly.

"You really think that she would try to take him?" Derek is a little shocked at that.

"Maybe, once she gets over being pissed at me she might try just to prove that she is such a wonderful person, saving him from the ills of life with a teenaged mom," She rolls her eyes, rubbing Jacob's cheek, "I would never let that happen." She whispers to the baby.

"Well there is too much that your mother can't know about this baby or this situation so if she was to try to take him Lydia our best option would be to run," he states quietly. Lydia looks startled, "You would do that?"

"Of course," Derek stands and crosses to the bed, "I meant what I said last night, we are in this together for better or worse because he picked us, it is my job to protect you and him and I will do whatever it takes to do just that."

Lydia looks at him for a moment as if she is weighing the truth of his words, "Okay, thank you. I am not really used to having anyone on my side so, this is new."  
Derek looks a bit embarrassed, "That is what a pack is, a support system and what you said last night, you were right. I have been punishing myself for what happened to my family for so long that I thought I had to do everything on my own. I never really let my pack in, even after I created them and I think that is why there has been so much turmoil. I need to teach them how to be wolves, how to function in a pack instead of just reacting to one crazy fucked up situation after another." She nodded as Jacob finished eating and she shifted him to her shoulder, leaning forward, Derek said, "I'll take him, why don't you get dressed and I will make you breakfast while you research myths." He stood, still looking a bit awkward with the baby.

"Thanks, I am starving and I don't cook so, that would be great."  
As he made his way to the door, Derek turned for a moment and said, "I think I may have a solution to your living situation as well," before closing the door behind him and walking carefully down the stairs.

Lydia dressed quickly in a very atypical Lydia outfit of skinny jeans and a button down blouse, she braided her hair and put on very little make up. She figured that the rest of her day would be spent packing and taking care of the baby so there was not need to dress up. As she entered the kitchen, a state of the art chrome and mahogany tomb that never got used she laughed as Derek raided her fridge for anything edible, "We eat a lot of take out," she offered slightly embarrassed, the truth was neither of the Martin women could cook and since the divorce four years ago her mother spent far more of her time at the office then she did at home anyway. The more she thought about it, the less shocked she thought her mother would be at the idea of her getting pregnant. She imagined for a moment that her parents would argue over whose fault it was until Jacob was in graduate school. It was that thought that had Lydia imagining herself as his mother, raising him and sending him to school. The thought didn't scare her nearly as much as she thought it should.

Walking over to Derek, Lydia takes Jacob, snuggling him to her chest as he plays with her fingers and Derek starts making breakfast. "So," he looks up from the pan, "I may have an answer to the living situation. I own a house in town that you are more than welcome to stay at."

"You own a house?" Lydia asks incredulous, "Like one with walls and roof?"

"Yes with walls and roof, hell it even has indoor plumbing," He scoffs.

"Oh fancy," She teases, making faces at Jacob.

"Yeah, it is not much, but it is three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a backyard."  
"That sounds nice," Lydia admits, "One request?"  
"What?" Derek raises an eyebrow as he opens the cabinets to find plates, pulling two down he listens to her.

"If I do this and move to your little hidden house, no crazy Uncle Peter, I just," She looks down, "I can't"

"Okay," he cuts her off, not wanting her to have to relive any of the pain Peter put her through, "No Peter, trust me, the less time I have to spend with that psycho the better." He serves her a plate with a beautiful omelet. "But, Isaacwill probably stay there." Derek offered.

"I figured," she says flippantly. Taking a bite, Lydia moans with happiness, "Oh, this is wonderful," she takes another bite, famished, "Oh you may have to cook for me a lot if we move in together." Derek chuckles as he sits down and begins to eat his own breakfast. "Deal," Derek agrees.

After breakfast, Lydia suggests that they start packing her stuff while Jacob takes a nap, "He sleeps a lot," Derek notes. Lydia chuckles, "well he is a day old and he has had it rough. I read up on preemies this morning and the web said that most preemies sleep a lot for the first few weeks, he is just trying to grow and catch up. I just wish we knew more about what happened to him, I mean why he was born early and why someone dropped him off here." Derek nodded, "Yeah, but for now we do our job, we keep him safe and if we ever find his birth parents, we ask them for those answers." She nodded a bit sad for the little boy who had seemingly survived so much in his short little life.

Derek decided that packing Lydia's stuff should be a pack thing so that they could plan a way of getting Boyd and Erica back while they did it. As they all showed up Lydia sternly instructed them to be quiet and not wake up the baby. Once they had all settled in her room, Stiles asked, "Okay, so why are we packing up your room?"

"Because, the minute my mom sees the baby she is going to ask a lot of questions that we can't answer, the only way to avoid that is to allow her to think that he is mine."  
"Wait, so you are going to tell your mother that while she was out of town for the weekend you miraculously gave birth to her grandson and yet remain a size two? Your mom is not dumb, she is going to know that you were never pregnant and she is going to think that you are nuts." Stiles helpfully points out.

"You are giving my mother far too much credit," Lydia huffs, handing him a newly assembled box and pointing him in the direction of her shoes, "Start packing and do not scuff them!"

"Um, are you really going to tell people that he is yours?" Isaac asks timidly.

"Yeah, it is the only way that he doesn't get turned over to social services or foster care or whatever." Lydia admits, "Plus my mom is not going ask too many questions once she sees me feeding him," Lydia points out.

"Any answer on why you can do that?" Scott asked.

"Peter was right, I am a daughter of Cerridwen, which is basically a priestess order for the Druid goddess of the moon and fertility, the Hales and other wolves pledged fealty to the goddess to protect the priestesses as companions and the priestesses would protect the wolves and keep them safe. Jacob is a companion and when he cried, he reached out to me, I responded to his cry and protected him. Derek is a companion as well but he is an Alpha and it is his job to protect any wolves who can't care for themselves in his territory, therefore he is responsible for Jacob as well."

"Okay so basically you two just supernaturally adopted a baby werewolf?" Stiles asked from the closet.

"Kinda," Derek responded, "And now we are packing so if Lydia's mom kicks her out, she can move more easily. So," He gestured that they get moving. Jackson pulled Lydia into the hallway, asking her in a hushed tone, "Are you going to tell your mom that you gave birth to that baby?"

"Yes," She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Did you think you might want to run that by me first, because I am not really in the mood to become a teenage father."  
"Well douche bag, no one asked you to be. I have absolutely no intention of telling my mother that you are the father or allowing her to believe that you are the father. I was going to tell her that the baby belongs to someone else and that cheating is the reason that you and I broke up so don't worry no one will be calling you 'Daddy' anytime soon," she stormed past him.

"Lydia, wait, I didn't mean," he sighs, throwing his hands in the air frustrated with himself for once again sounding like a complete ass. The next few hours past quickly, the boys and Lydia packing her clothes and essentials into boxes and then loading them into their cars. As Lydia stripped the bedding off of her bed, she sighed, Derek came in the room behind her, "Are you sure you are okay with this?"  
Sighing, she whispered, "I don't know. I just know that this life, the girl who lived here, I am not sure I ever knew her. I always felt like I was playing a role: rich bitch, Jackson's ditzy girlfriend, the secretly smart girl. Now maybe I can figure out who I really am," She shrugged and Derek wanted to say that he knew the feeling, never quiet knowing what his role should be— brother, son, companion beta, Alpha, he felt like he failed at everything he tried, maybe this was his second chance too. He nodded, "The cars are packed, so I am going to take this box and load it. I put the car seat in your car and I put the address in the GPS, are you sure you don't want me to stay with you and wait for your mom?"

Shaking herself from her revelry, Lydia shook her head, "No, I know her and if you are here she will assume that you are the father and I don't think that you want to go to jail for statutory rape, so it is probably better that you don't." She said tiredly.

"Okay, but I will be close by, just call if you need me." He turns to leave before turning back to her, "Lydia, who are you going to tell your mom is the baby's father?"  
"One night stand," her voice sounds hollow, "She is going to think I am a whore anyway, so why not go full tilt and let her think that I hooked up with some random and gave birth to his love child."  
Looking at her, Derek was suddenly filled with sadness for the broken girl in front of him, all of them, each member of this half assed little team they had put together was broken in some way, maybe, they were they were all each other's second chance. "Okay" he whispers, deciding to let her do this her way but deeply sorry that she was going to have to take the brunt of this.


	4. A New Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I really hope that you enjoy this chapter, let me know by leaving a comment. Thanks!

Chapter 4

As Derek exited the house, he heard Jacob waking up and Lydia moving to get him, after a few moments the baby quieted and he knew that she was feeding the hungry little boy. He also heard her mother's car pulling up in the driveway and he decided to stay just out of sight. The anticipation of this confrontation filled him with an anxious tension that he had almost grown used to. He hated that Lydia had to do this—that she had to take on the stigma of being a teenage mother, that she had to lie to her own family and face their ignorant judgment, that others would not see how truly remarkable she was. He hated that he, that what he was, had destroyed another person's life.

As the thoughts passed through his head he heard Lydia's voice from last night _Get off the cross, stop blaming yourself_ , and he remembered her words to Deaton, _At least this time it is my own history_ , she was a part of this because of who she was just as much as he was a part of this because of who he was. They were both born into this and they were going to have to make the best of it and to protect Jacob, she was right, he chose them and Derek would die to protect either of them. Resolving himself to the situation, Derek waited by the backdoor of the Martin home, bracing himself for the confrontation, a part of him still hoping that Lydia was wrong and that her mother would be more accepting of her daughter.

Lydia smiled at the baby suckling happily, amazed at how much stronger he seemed since last night. Hearing her mother coming in the front door a sick feeling settled in her stomach, _here goes nothing_. Letting the baby feed for a few more moments she hears her mother mounting the stairs and dropping her suitcase off in her own room before walking back down stairs to the kitchen. The look of shock that registered on her mother's face when Mrs. Martin walked into her kitchen to find her daughter sitting at her kitchen table nursing a baby was the most emotion Lydia had seen on her face in years.

"What the hell is going on here?" She asked, her voice shaking with an emotion that Lydia could not identify.

"Well mom, we need to talk," Lydia replies calmly, looking up from the baby who was nearly asleep again.

"Lydia, what, I," she sputtered, completely flabbergasted.

"Mom, I would like to introduce you to Jacob, your grandson."

"My, my," she gasped for breath, making her way over to the mini-bar pouring herself something brown and strong, downing it in one gulp before pouring herself another one and turning to face her daughter, she chuckled, "My grandson. Lydia what is wrong with you? How, you can't have a baby."

"Too late mom, as you can see,"

"This, you, why didn't you tell me?"

"Mom, I am so sorry, I didn't know what to say and now he is here, so," Lydia felt terrible lying to her mother.

"If you would have told me earlier we could have handled this quietly, I mean at least then you could have just gotten rid of it. Now we are going to have to find someone to take it," She spoke to the wall, not making eye contact with Lydia.

"Mom, I am not giving him up, he is my responsibility and I understand if you can't support that but"

"You understand!" She cut Lydia of by throwing her glass at the wall over Lydia's head. Lydia reflexively flinched and Jacob started crying at her fear. "You understand nothing you stupid child!" She spit the words in anger, "You cannot have a baby Lydia, you are in high school!"

"Well mom I already do and nothing is going to change that,"

"We can take care of this, I will make some calls and I am sure that there is a place for it in the adoption system."  
"Him, mom, he is a boy, stop calling him an it. He is a boy and his name is Jacob and he is your grandson and I am not giving him up so can we please move on,"

"Don't you back talk me young lady and dear God shut that brat up!" She growled as she moved back to the bar to make herself another drink. Lydia rocked Jacob, trying to get him to finish eating so he could calm down but he was too upset to latch on so she focused on trying to calm herself down to see if that would calm him down. He seemed to recognize the tension in the room though and kept crying. "For God's sake button your shirt, you think just because you can breastfeed that you are a good mother? My God, you obviously didn't want him if you hid him this long. Do the Whittemore's know?"

"No, he is not Jackson's child, they don't need to know," Lydia responded coolly as she buttoned her top and rubbed Jacob's little back trying to sooth him.

"He is not Jackson's child! So not only are you too stupid not to get pregnant, you are also a whore! Great!" Her mother downed another drink. Lydia stood, loading Jacob into his car seat carrier.

"Mom, this is obviously not getting us anywhere, if you want we can talk about it when heads are cooler," Lydia began.

"Get out," her mother growled at her, "Get out of my house you stupid little slut!" She yelled, making the baby cry louder. "Get out, get out, get out!" She screamed, throwing picture frames with perfect pictures of perfect Lydia throughout the years at the walls around where Lydia was standing. Lowering a blanket over the carrier to protect Jacob from the flying glass, Lydia made her way to the door, her keys already in her hand, laying her house key on the table in the foyer she said sadly, "Goodbye mom," before walking out of her childhood home.

Derek is waiting by her car on the dark driveway when she gets to it, opening the back door, he takes Jacob's carrier and clips the baby seat in before standing and quickly pulling Lydia into his arms. For a moment she is shocked at the contact and then she gives into the hug, wrapping her arms around his solid form and allowing herself to be comforted by him.

"I am so sorry that you had to go through that, it wasn't fair and nothing that she said was true," He whispered into her hair as she presses her forehead against his chest, crying quietly as he rubbed her back gently. Pulling back a bit, she nods, wiping her eyes and putting on her tough face, "Thank you. That was harder than I thought it would be."

He rubs his hands down from her shoulders to her hands, squeezing them before stepping back, "Are you sure that you are okay to drive?"

Wiping her nose with her sleeve, she nods and gives him a weak smile, "Yeah, I will be fine, I will follow you there okay." Giving her one last look he releases her hands and moves to his car, waiting for her to pull out he lets her following him a few miles away to a cul-du- sac with a few mid- sized houses.

Pulling into the last driveway, Derek gets out of the car and waits for Lydia to exit the car, reaching into the back, he unclips Jacob's carseat and lifts the carrier out. He leads her up the stair to a porch that runs the length of the house. The house itself is a neat colonial style, light blue siding and white shutters and trim with a yellow door. Overall, it was beautiful. Once inside Lydia noticed stairs directly across from the front door that lead to the bedrooms according to Derek, to the right was a large living room with a big fireplace and a neutral color palette, a door through the living room, led to a spacious kitchen that had been painted a light yellow with white cabinets and an overall homey- country feel. The place was cozy, like a home yet nothing about it screamed Derek Hale.

After a quick tour, Lydia asked, "So _this_ is your house?"

Derek chuckled, "It is now, it belonged to my sister, but when she died, it went to me," he answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he cut her off with a wave of his hand, "It's okay, I know you didn't mean anything by it. I should have told you earlier. I will bring all of your boxes up to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs, it has an attached bathroom and you will have plenty of room for a crib when you want to put him in one."  
"Derek, thank you, really," She pulls him into a hug again.

"Like I said, we are in this together," He responds before moving to the kitchen, "Are you thirsty? The boys are on their way over with the rest of your stuff," she asked for water and he brings her a bottle, grabbing one for himself also. A few minutes later the pack arrived each carrying boxes of Lydia's stuff and Stiles carrying several boxes of pizza. The pack made short work of moving Lydia's stuff upstairs while she found plates, napkins and glasses for everyone, setting up the pizza and bringing in a couple of sodas and filling each of the glasses with ice so that as soon as they came back downstairs everyone could eat.

"Wow," Scott said, moving to grab a plate and fill it with pizza.

"Yeah," Isaac piped up, "Usually we use wrestle for who can get to the pizza box first and eat it on the floor."

"Ew," Lydia grimaces as she grabs a few slices, "Guys are gross." The pack falls into an easy rapport as they eat, serving each other soda and passing pizza and soda bottles, just joking and laughing for the first time in a long time. As they were finishing Lydia stood to clear the plates and cleanup the boxes when Jacob started crying from bedroom where he had been sleeping.

"I'll get him," Derek volunteers returning with the baby a few minutes later, "Lydia where is his diaper bag, I think he is wet." He looks at the squirming baby a little lost. "It should be by the stairs," she answers from the kitchen where she and Isaac are loading the dishwasher. Derek grabs the bag before placing the baby on his back on the couch.

"Dude, do you actually know how to do this?" Stiles asked, intrigued.

"Not really," Derek admits, trying to unsnap the baby's onesie with fingers that suddenly felt very clumsy and too large. Once he gets the onesie off, he stares at the diaper for a minute, fiddling with the tabs before tearing one of them but getting the wet diaper off. Just as he is wiping the baby and thinking he is doing a pretty good job at this whole diaper thing, a blast of water shoots at him, using his alpha reflexes he dodges it only to realize that 'it' is a stream of pee and it just hit Scott square in the chest. Stiles and Derek both freeze for a moment before bursting out laughing at the stunned beta.

"Damn that kid has aim," Stiles laughs, nearly falling over.

"Shut up!" Scott says sourly, pulling his shirt off in disgust, "That is just gross!"

That just makes Stiles laugh harder and Lydia and Isaac to come back into the room to find out what all of the fuss is about, "What in the world?" Isaac asks as Lydia takes in the scene.

"McCall you can try all you want, but I don't think that you can replace me, so put your shirt back on," She snarks as she crosses to the couch, "Yeah, you need to cover that thing up because when the air hits it pee is to follow," she points to the baby who is peeing into the air again. Tossing a wipe into his penis, she cleans up the couch and shows the pack how to properly change a diaper. Rolling her eyes she says, "Get used to it, you are all going to be doing a lot of babysitting." She picks up the baby at their shocked faces, bringing him to her chest she grabs a blanket and throws it over her shoulder so that she can feed Jacob without flashing everyone. Once he is settled, she looks up at the pack from the chair she is sitting in, "Okay so what is our plan for this Alpha pack?"


	5. Wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, please leave me a comment if you do! Thanks!

Chapter 5

"So first, what is an Alpha Pack?" Scott asks, still shirtless and glaring slightly at the baby that is currently covered by the blanket over Lydia's chest and shoulder.

"Well, it is exactly what it sounds like, a pack made up of Alphas. They reject the hierarchy of a traditional pack and they nominate and defend their leadership democratically." Derek begins to explain.  
Stiles interrupts, "So basically they are like a more powerful, better organized and less oppressed pack. How is that bad? Why doesn't everyone join?" He sounds shocked.

"Well," Derek cuts him off, "Because they only admit Alpha's and in order to join an Alpha has to be free of his or her old alliances, so" He searches for words only to be cut off by Peter, "He has to murder his old pack," he says flippantly entering the room with his hands in his pockets and an air of superiority.

"Oh," Stiles answers crestfallen, "yeah that would suck. They suck."

"Pretty much," Peter nods.

"Anyway, they murder their pack, pledge alliance to the Alpha pack and then fight their way into the pecking order. They revel in their power and they do not honor treaties or boundaries. They kill without discretion which is bad for all of us." Derek continued. "They see all those who are weaker—humans, Omegas and Betas—as less than them and therefore disposable. They are dangerous to all of us."

"So how do we stop them, or at least make them go away?" Jackson asks, not liking uncertainty or not being top dog.

"We don't," Peter says.  
"Thanks for that Pollyana," Lydia snaps.

"Hello my beautiful Lydia," He smiled, trying to seem charming but landing somewhere around lecherous. She cut him a look that could melt lead and focused her eyes back on Derek.

"We know their weakness, that they think that we can't touch them, they will underestimate us and we can use that. For now, we need to find out why they are circling and then we can plan a defense." Lydia states calmly, rubbing the baby's back as he ate peacefully.

"Screw defense, the best defense is a good offensive. We should strike first." Jackson piped up, his words fiery and his body restless.

"Except that we are out matched and will be murdered on sight if we go after them," Peter responded, muttering, "This is not Lacrosse moron."

Jackson growled at the older Beta before Peter changed the subject, "The other problem being that baby,"  
Both Lydia and Derek looked to Peter with guarded rage in their eyes, Lydia pulling the boy closer to her as she switches breasts. "Excuse me?" She asks.

"Someone drops a companion infant on your doorstep the day after the Alpha pack announces their presence and kidnaps two of your Betas. Come on, it is all connected," Peter says condescendingly.

"What is your solution?" Lydia tests.

"That child is dangerous and he needs to be as far away from this pack as possible," He says as if it is the most obvious answer.

Derek turns, "That child is my responsibility and no harm will come to him, from anyone. It is this pack's responsibility to protect him. He is one of us."

"Peter if you touch Jacob I will rip your throat your myself this time and I swear to all that is holy I will make sure you stay dead," Lydia growled from her chair, causing the baby to whimper against her.

Peter's eyes widened, "Jacob?" he turned to his nephew, the shock on his face clear.

"We had to call him something and Lydia liked the name." He answered shortly.

Peter nodded, seeming genuinely touched and shaken at hearing his brother's name again, "I wanted to test how you felt about the child, obviously you are both dedicated to protecting him. I do think that he is connected to the Alpha pack somehow, and I think discovering that connection with help us fight them." He says, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, looking to Lydia he continues, "I will do my duty as a member of this pack and protect your baby at all cost, don't worry."

Lydia's eyes widen at both his confession of loyalty and at his use of the words "her baby", she did think of him as hers and after only two days she was very invested in his survival but she was trying not to think of him as hers because she feared that they would find his real family and be forced to return him. She simply nodded to Peter, not wanting her voice to betray her conflicting emotions, "Okay, now that we are clear on that, why would the Alpha pack take Boyd and Erica? They are both betas and the Alpha pack would have no use for them so if they didn't just kill them in the woods, it leads me to think that they are keeping them alive for some reason."

Everyone pondered that for a moment, "They want something from us, the only reason to keep them is so that they can get information or trade them, either way they send a message and they force us to interact with them," Stiles brainstormed. Derek nodded.

"They want something from us, but what?" He looked around the room. "We didn't get Jacob until after they took Boyd and Erica, so he is not it. What else could they want?"

"The Kanima?" Jackson asks, seeming uncomfortable with the very word.

"Well they can't have that because it is gone and they would see it as a lesser being because it is a perversion of the wolf so I don't think that they would want it except to extinguish it," Peter offered, both Jackson and Lydia flinching at the word 'extinguish'.

"What about Peter, I mean he is an Alpha who was murdered and then brought back from the dead, that has got to offer a bit of intrigue to a group of Alphas who are in a high risk job," Stiles offered, causing Peter to look at him with comical contempt.

"Or they want what brought him back and brought balance to the Kanima, Lydia is the only one of us who has anything to offer them, she is a priestess and even if we are not sure what that means yet, we know that she is powerful, so maybe they want her?" Scott offers in a voice that sounds small with fear at the thought of losing another pack member.

"That," Peter raises his eyebrows in consideration, "actually sounds plausible." He looks to Lydia who is now rubbing Jacob's back as the baby snuggles against her shoulder, "Scott I am impressed. I knew Lydia was special the minute saw her, I am sure that the Alpha pack picked up on it too. They may well want their own priestess, particularly if they know that she has the power of resurrection."

Lydia looks scared, her voice thin as she says, "Yeah, but I didn't do any of that stuff on my own. Peter you controlled my thoughts and actions in order to get me to complete the spell or ritual or whatever to resurrect you and with Jackson, I just followed my instincts."

"Exactly, you followed your instincts and saved him from death at the hands of an Alpha and resurrected him as a wolf, you also followed your instincts to help Jacob, imagine what you could do if you studied your gifts and abilities. You could prove extremely useful to the Alpha pack in tracking others, channeling energy and power and boosting their power through the moon. Not to mention if one of them mated you, I mean,"

Derek cut him off before his crazy uncle lost himself and terrified everyone else with his evil machinations, "Stop it," he growled, "for now, we just know that all of us have to be extra vigilant in order to protect Lydia and the baby and each other. No one travels alone, no one engages any unknown wolf or person. For now be on your guard and trust no one. Stiles and Scott watch out for your parents as well because they may be in danger." Both boys pale at the thought and nod. "Okay, everyone, I think that we could all use some sleep. In the morning we research everything that we can about the Alpha pack and their history with the priestesses okay." Derek finishes tiredly. Everyone agrees and collects the empty pizza boxes, milling about a bit all reluctant to separate as the seriousness of the threat sinks in for them all.

"Guys thank you for all of your help today," Lydia stands, "I really appreciate it. I will see you all in the morning." Everyone begins to leave, each bidding the others goodbye, Peter slinking off silently. Isaac meanders to the door slowly after Jackson, Stiles and Scott have already pulled away from the house. Lydia turns, "Isaac, where do you think you are going?"

"Um, well, I have been sleeping in the train garage so," he moves to the door.

"Nonsense, you are going to stay here with us, there is a room for you," She starts up the stairs with Jacob, leaving the stunned boy behind her, she stops about halfway up, turning to him, "Well come on," She flips her hair over her shoulder as she hears him start to follow her. Once they reach the upstairs hall, Lydia leads him to the first door on the left. Flipping the light on, she shows him his room. It is a decent size room, painted a calming light blue with a queen size bed against the far wall and an antique dresser and chair. It was a bit Spartan, but it was warm and clean, both things that the train garage were not. "I know it is a bit bare, but we can go shopping and personalize it a little bit for you this week," Lydia offers Isaac a warm smile, letting him know that she is welcoming him not pitying him.

"Lydia, thank you, you don't have to," He begins only to be cut off, "Hush Isaac, I am not doing anything. This isn't my house; I am just a homeless teenager like you. We are a pack, we need to be together." She smiles. Isaac leans over and hugs her gently so he doesn't squish Jacob, not knowing how to respond, but grateful for her kindness and willingness to accept him into her life even though they barely know each other. She smiles as the hug breaks, Isaac returning her smile and running a timid finger over Jacob's dark head before Lydia leaves, walking down the hall to her room.

Walking in she sighs looking at the mess surrounding her. Placing Jacob, who was sleeping peacefully, in the middle of the bed, she looks for the box marked pajamas. Finding it, she opens it and pulls out her favorite soft flannel bottoms and a light pink tank top, changing quickly; she opens the top drawer and begins to fill it with her neatly folded pajamas and underwear. Once she is done with that box, she moves on to the next one marked clothes, she makes quick work of refolding all of her jeans, t- shirts and tops. Meticulously organizing her clothes into the dresser, Lydia needed the mundane work to focus her nervous energy on so that she could not think about the possibility of the Alpha pack stalking her currently.

Looking over to Jacob, lying on the bed looking so innocent, she feels a shiver tear through her as she thought about what would happen to him if they caught her. Physically shaking herself she grabs several of the broken down boxes and rushes into the hall to stack them by the recycling in the garage. Exiting her room, she runs directly into a very naked Derek who was exiting the bathroom opposite her room wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist. As he reaches out to steady her when she runs into him and drops the boxes, the towel rides dangerously low on his hips, giving Lydia a full view of his chiseled chest, the muscles rippling under the skin, a thick line of black hair starting at his belly button and disappearing into the towel. "Um, sorry," she stammers, shaken by the night and the sight of a nearly naked Derek and the feelings that his hands on her waist are causing her and the smell of his soap and the heat radiating from his body. Lydia can feel the blush creeping up her neck as she tries not to stare, "Sorry, I am just tired and a klutz, I didn't mean," He smiled, "it's okay, let me get some clothes on and I will take these boxes downstairs okay."

Trying to save herself further embarrassment she nodded and turned to re-enter her room. Taking a deep breath, Lydia tries to cool her blood, knowing that she cannot allow herself to give into her attraction to Derek. Yes, he was hot as hell and yes, they were stuck in a crazy situation, but right now they had way too much stuff going on for her to complicate it with crushing on her Alpha. Taking another deep breath, she looked around the room, finding the boxes of her shoes and the clothes that would need to be hung in the closet; she started unpacking the dresses, formal tops and dress pants that she wore frequently in her old life.

Smiling as she unpacked, she made the decision to start dressing more comfortable now that she had no one to impress. She no longer answered to her mother's ideals of what was appropriate for a young woman of her standing to wear and she was sure that when word got out that she was a teen mom, her social stock would drop even more than it had after the whole running through the woods, naked fugue state thing happened. Part of her was relieved that she wouldn't have to wear a miniskirt everyday because honestly they were drafty and she spent a lot of her time freezing. Chuckling at the thought as she hung yet another skirt, she didn't hear Derek enter the room until he was standing at the door to her walk in closet wearing a pair of black track pants that hung low on his hips and a thin white wife beater that left little to the imagination.

"What's so funny?" He asked raising a eyebrow as he brought her another box before leaning in the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest, shaking her head she smiled, "Nothing, I was just thinking about how when I go back to school I am totally not wearing those little skirts and heels anymore. I figure that if I am a mom now I can at least dress in comfortable clothes, even if I am just pretending."

Smirking Derek leans over and picks up a particularly deadly looking heel that Lydia had worn on several occasions, "Yeah, I have no idea how you can walk in these, but I would certainly feel better if you were carrying Jacob around in something a little more stable." He inspects the shoe as if it is a medieval weapon that may spring at any moment.

"They are cute and they make my legs look great," She smirks right back.

"Your legs don't need the help," he fixes her with a look that sends shocks to parts of her she doesn't want to think about with her recent vow of celibacy about Derek. She settles on rolling her eyes and continuing with her unpacking. Once the closet is full and Lydia's toiletries are set up in the bathroom, she is dead tired. Yawning, she stretches her arms over her head and squeezes her eyes shut.

As Derek watches Lydia yawn and stretch he is transfixed by the pale, taunt skin of her abdomen that is bared when her tank top rides up. She is beautiful- that is a fact not an opinion-but Derek is fighting every urge in him that is pulling him to her. Their situation, both personally and as a pack, are currently too complicated as it is and he does not need sex or emotions clouding that any further. But he cannot deny that he is attracted to her, not just because of her beauty—that he could ignore—no he is drawn to her intelligence and her amazing heart. Her willingness to take all of this on—Jacob, Isaac, the pack and all of their issues was truly impressive to Derek. Her desire to make everything work and to make everyone feel safe and comfortable made Derek want her to be around in a way he had not felt in a long time. She was intriguing to him, but he knew that it could not become anything but a friendship and he was just going to have to resign himself to that.

"God I am exhausted," She rest her hands on the sink where she is unpacking a box of makeup and hair products and all l kind of stuff that Derek doesn't understand. "Go to bed, we can finish this in the morning Lydia," Derek coaxes.

"No, I want to get as much of it done as I can and Jacob is going to need to eat soon," She looked past him to the baby on the bed. Realizing that the child is awake she smile involuntarily and moved past Derek, the length of her body pressing against his in the doorway of the bathroom, sending shocks through both of them, in order to pick up the baby. Watching Lydia cuddle the baby to her chest makes Derek smile, something that he doesn't do a lot of.

"Why don't you go to bed after he eats? You need your rest because he will wake you up every couple hours like last night and you don't need to let yourself get run down." He lectured as she sat on the bed changing the baby.

"Okay," she yawned, acquiescing because she was truly exhausted, "I will as long as you promise to do the same thing. I know you didn't get any sleep last and I am sure you haven't slept too well over the past couple of weeks with everything that has been happening." The look on her face dared him to argue with her, "I'll try," he surrenders, shocked when she bluntly pulls down the left side of her tank top and brings the baby to her chest, he quickly looks up, not wanting to feel like a perv for watching her now that much more of her chest is exposed than last night because of her choice in tops.

"Derek, we are going be okay," She says once Jacob is settled, eating happily.

"I hope so," he admits. Unable to stop himself for watching her, transfix with the gentle way in which she caressed the baby as he fed, playing with his fingers and rubbing her thumbs over the sole of his feet, "Why do you do that?" He asked before he could stop himself, she tilted her head in question so he continued, "You touch him, rubbing your fingers over his skin and caressing him. He seems to like it, like your touch calms him." Derek sounded calmer than he normally did, less tense as he watched her.

"I read about it online, babies, especially preemies need skin to skin contact, it helps them feel connected to others and it also helps them regulate their temperature. So when I am feeding him, I try to make eye contact and touch him, I like touching him too; it makes me feel connected to him. It is like I can feel him relaxing and it relaxes me," She smiles at him and her face is full of wonder and giddiness.

Before Derek realizes what he is doing he has crossed the room and is sitting on the side of the bed facing her where she is reclining against the headboard. Running his finger over the side of the baby's head, following the line of the bone behind his ear, following it over his shoulder and down his spine, Derek smiles as Jacob's eyes open and the baby seems to sigh against Lydia's skin as he eats. There is nothing sexual about Derek's proximity to Lydia's exposed breast, they are both focused on Jacob and his calmness seems to infect both of them. As Jacob finishes, releasing Lydia's nipple she looks up at Derek, "Pull your shirt off," She whispers, breaking Derek out of his bubble, "huh?"

"Pull your shirt off," She whispers again adjusting her own top so she is covered, "That way you can hold him skin to skin as well. He needs to bond with you too Alpha," her voice is soft, not wanting to break the mood. Reaching back, Derek hikes up the back of his tank top and pulls it over his head while circling the bed and sitting beside Lydia. She leans over, settling Jacob against his chest.

The baby instantly snuggles into Derek's chest, rubbing his cheek against the Alpha's warm skin as Derek gently burps him, rubbing his thumbs over the baby's feet and ankles, moving in tiny circles on the baby's back. Smiling as he feels Jacob's tender breath against his skin as the child gives over the soothing sensations of Derek's gentle touches. Lydia excuses herself to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, when she returns, she finds Derek hard and fast asleep against her headboard, Jacob sleeping on his chest. They both look so comfortable and peaceful that Lydia simply covers Derek and the baby with a soft blanket, before turning the lights off, pulling the duvet cover back and climbing into bed. She is asleep within moments of her head hitting the pillow and sleeps deep and dreamless.


	6. Breakfast and Breakthoughs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy, please leave me a comment so I know what you are thinking about this story. Thanks!

Four hours later Lydia wakes to find Jacob staring at her from Derek's chest. Derek has slid down the bed a bit so that his head his resting on the pillow beside Lydia's and his hands are still gently resting on the tiny baby's back, holding him in place in his sleep. Lydia cannot help but smile at the sight of the badass werewolf holding the baby. Derek looks calmer and more relaxed than she has ever seen him look before. Long black eyelashes rest on sculpted cheekbones and the normally tense lines of his forehead and temples are relaxed giving him a much younger appearance. For a moment, Lydia just let herself marvel at the beauty of Derek Hale—she wondered if anyone ever told him that he had girly eyelashes? Her artistic observation was interrupted by the increased pressure in her chest letting her know that Jacob needed to eat, a revelation that was immediately followed by the baby squirming on Derek's chest. Lydia sat up slowly, trying not to disturb the sleeping Alpha, but the moment she touched Jacob, Derek's eyes flew open, flashing red as he grabbed her hands.

"Sorry," she whispered, "I was trying not to wake you, I need to feed the baby," she looked down to the now slightly damp front of her tank top. The scent of milk and Lydia hit Derek before her words did, he quickly released her hands and allowed her to lift the baby off his chest.

"Sorry," he whispered as she moved her shirt down, bringing Jacob to her leaking chest, "I didn't mean to," she cut him off, noting the tired rasp in his voice, "I know, you were protecting Jacob, that is what you are supposed to. I just didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful. Why don't you go back to sleep?" She suggested, smiling at Jacob as he nuzzled her chest, finally latching on.

"I need to patrol the grounds," Derek started to sit up.

"Derek," she stops him from moving from the bed with her free hand on his arm, "Stay, please. I know you think you need to like, pace the whole night to keep us safe, but if you keep doing this you are going to drop. You can't protect anyone in this pack if you are too exhausted to think, so please, stay, go back to sleep."

Sighing, Derek looks at Lydia, even half asleep she is beautiful her hair falling messily to frame her face and shoulders as she admires Jacob with sleepy eyes while he feeds hungrily. "Lydia I don't think that me staying here is a good idea, I mean I can just go sleep in my room," He moves to stand again, causing her hand on his arm to pull forward a bit and jarring her enough to make Jacob lose his hold on her crying out angrily and a clump of her hair to fall forward. Instinctively he moved to push her hair back with one hand, bringing the other hand to the baby's head. Nearly immediately the baby hushed, latching back on to eat. "Sorry," he says shyly, still running his thumb gently over Jacob's head.

"I think he wants you to stay too," She smiles at him, "I know that there is not anything between us Derek, I also know that if you go to your room your are not going to sleep, so, stay and keep Jacob calm. He actually slept two hours longer than last night with you holding him." Relenting because he knows she is not going to give up and because he is truly tired and the last four hours are the best sleep he has gotten since his sister died, he nods and leans back onto the pillow. A few minutes later he hears Jacob's sucking slow down and his breath become deep and even signaling that he is asleep again. Lydia adjusts her top and gently lowers to baby to the bed beside Derek before standing. Rubbing his hand over the baby's stomach, fighting sleep, he asks, "Where are you going?"

"Just changing," she responds from the dresser where she has eased a drawer open and grabs a clean tank top, Derek is shocked when she pulls her current top over her head baring her naked back to him for a moment before pulling the clean tank over her head—She is way too comfortable with nudity! He thinks. Turning back to him, she pulls the blankets back, "I leaked through so I needed to change," she explained at the perplexed look on his face before climbing under the covers and finding Jacob's feet with her hands. After watching the girl for a few minutes, Derek allows himself to drift off to sleep.

Across the hall, Isaac smiles to himself, he had woken up when he heard them talking, Isaac knew that something was brewing between Derek and Lydia, even if they didn't want to admit it yet. Isaac had been through hell in his life, but he also recognized the pain that both Lydia and Derek carried with them. In their own ways they had saved Isaac from his father, from loneliness and from isolation—now Isaac was going to make sure he saved them from themselves so that they could both get the love that they deserved from each other. Hearing Derek and Lydia's even breathing, Isaac allows himself to fall back asleep, comforted in the knowledge that once they had Erica and Boyd back, he would have a real family for the first time in his life.

Lydia wakes once more during the night to feed Jacob, both of them falling back to sleep quickly afterward. Derek watched her silently before drifting back to sleep himself. He doesn't wake again until he hears Isaac letting in the rest of the pack just before seven the next morning. Groaning as he rolls onto his back, Derek takes a deep breath and stretches, nearly moaning as his body relaxes completely. He had not felt this rested in what seemed like years. Opening his eyes, he looks beside him, Lydia is still sleeping, one arm tucked under her pillow and the other hand resting on Jacob's tummy. Even in her sleep, Lydia looks like she is thinking, plotting. Derek smiles—Her mind never stops working. Looking down, he is met with Jacob's clear blue eyes. Derek remembers learning years ago that babies eyes change color in the first few months of life, and that most babies are born with blue eyes. He wonders what color eyes Jacob will end up having—part of him hopes that they are green like Lydia's.

Shaking himself at the thought- that is the type of thought that led to dangerous places where he thought of Lydia as more than a pack member- he studied the baby closer. The boy seemed much stronger than he had two days ago when Derek had found him, but he was still so tiny. Now he smelled like Lydia, but Derek figured that was because she was feeding him and she held him most of the time. Letting out a chuckle as the baby yawned, making an adorable face, Derek felt a strange happiness fill him. Taking a deep breath, he represses the feeling, he has two missing betas and he cannot allow himself to be happy until they are safely home. Smiling at the baby, who seems to be watching him, even though Derek knows that babies this young can't really interpret visual information (okay, so maybe Lydia told him that when she was researching infant development yesterday), but he swore that Jacob understood who he was.

Slowly, Derek tried to lift Lydia's hand from the baby so he could change Jacob—he's werewolf nose was not needed to know that the baby needed a diaper change—but Lydia just grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers in her sleep. Squeezing her hand gently, he extracted himself and Jacob from her, lifting the child and taking him to a small table in the room, he quickly grimaced his way through changing the boy's diaper, wondering to himself how such a small being could produce such an awful smell. Moving to the pile of bags in front of Lydia's dresser, he dug out a tiny pair of footie pajamas that were yellow with little ducks on them and ducks for feet—Stiles had to have picked these out—Derek thought, rolling his eyes as he stood back up with the baby and the tiny outfit. Laying the baby in the bed, trying not to disturb Lydia he stared at the tiny clothes, trying to figure out how he was going to dress the boy. Luckily, he heard a giggle from that head of the bed, "I think I have found the one thing the great and mighty Derek Hale—Alpha badass—is scared of—tiny clothes."

Fixing her with a stare, eyebrow raised, he responds, "These are so small, how am I supposed to dress him without ripping them?"

Giggling again, "Well, he is pretty small, so what would you have him wear—a wife beater and motorcycle boots?"

"Actually, it is good look," He considered, loving bantering with her.

"Yeah, a good look for you but, he is a baby and babies don't wear leather, they wear duckies" she smiled as he blushed a bit at the indirect compliment, "Now bring him here, he is going to start crying soon." Derek quickly handed over the baby, who was in only a diaper still but wrapped in a light blue, very soft blanket. As soon as he was in Lydia's arms, he was rooting around hungrily, she quickly, and again all to comfortable with the nudity for Derek, pulled down her tank top and let him latch on, both she and the baby sighing slightly at the motion. Watching her for a moment, Derek tilted his head, "Does that hurt?"

Looking up from the baby, she gazed at him, watching her in awe, "Not really, it is weird, like pressure, but when he is actually eating it feels nice, like it calms both he and I. I also like how close he is. I know that we have only had him a few days, but, I feel like he was meant to be with us. I know that probably sounds stupid," She blushed, something that Lydia Martin does do often, and looked back down at the suckling child.

"No," Derek said softly, "I get it. I feel the same way," they shared a smile, not needing to discuss the matter further. Closing the box of wipes that he was holding, Derek reached down and grabbed his discarded shirt off her floor, "Um, the pack is here and it smells like Isaac is making breakfast, so I am going to grab some clothes and head down before Stiles lights fire to anything," he says, she nods in response, "Do you have any request for breakfast?"

"Um, I could totally eat another one of those omelets if you have time," Derek smiles, proud that she really did like his cooking and nods as he lets himself out of her room.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Isaac had met the pack at the door before they could ring it and gestured them all inside, telling them, "Derek and Lydia are still asleep, so be quiet."

"Derek and Lydia, asleep, like together?" Stiles rambled. Sighing, Scott moved past his friend and entered the house with an eye roll, Jackson muttered, "Damn, she always did move fast," as he stepped around Stiles and entered as well, looking around, Stiles entered the door as well, closing it and asking again, "Like together?"

Isaac rolled his eyes, navigating this carefully because he did not want to hurt anyone's feeling but Stiles was not going to cause problems for his newly forming family, "Not like that Stiles, they were up and down all night with the baby, he has to eat like every couple of hours so they are sleeping in."

"So are we going to get Erica and Boyd back or are we going to spend the day waiting while the Alpha cuddles with my ex girlfriend?" Jackson snaps.

"How about we make breakfast?" Isaac suggests and Scott seconds, "I am starving."  
The others nod and they all move into the kitchen and begin nosing around for food.

A few minutes later Peter appears in a poof of creepy as usual, startling everyone as he announces his arrival with, "Is our plan to attack the Alpha pack with eggs?"

Jumping, Stiles drops his toast and yelps, "What the hell man! You can't just sneak up on people! Jeez get a bell or something," Peter rolls his eyes. "Where is Derek?"

"Snuggling with Lydia," Jackson responds matter of factly. Peter raises and eyebrow and smirks, Maybe there is hope for that boy after all.

After a few minutes, Derek jogs down the stairs, wearing jeans and a light green t- shirt, he listens for a moment to Jackson and Stiles bantering over lacrosse players and Isaac and Scott throwing in comments as they make scrambled eggs and fry bacon. Entering the room fully, Derek adds his two cents to conversation. Jackson glares at him for a moment, "Will Lydia be joining us of did you tire her out?"

Growling, Derek squashed that train quickly, "Lydia is feeding the baby and you will not make those types of insulations unless you want to be drinking your lunch as well." He moves to the fridge to take out a few items and joins Isaac and Scott by the stove.  
Lifting his hands in surrender, Jackson relents. A few minutes later, Lydia joins them, carrying the baby who is cleaned and wearing the yellow ducky onesie that Derek picked out earlier. Seeing the baby, he sent her a subtle smile which she returns. Peter doesn't miss the interaction and he represses his own smile with a smirk—if anyone deserves a little bit of happiness it is his nephew. Peter knows that he is at fault for some of the pain that Derek has faced; he killed Laura, effectively killing the last of Derek's family and his hope for normal. Peter was so lost in his own pain and want for revenge that he was blinded to the pain that he was causing others.

He would never forgive himself for killing Laura, she was his niece, he loved her. Peter had been there when she was born, she had held her as an infant and marveled as she grew, but after his own wife and child were killed in the fire he blamed the world and he wanted to get revenge. Oddly enough, ripping out Kate Argent's throat hadn't diminished the pain in his soul—it just made it worst. Now that he was no longer living for revenge, he had nothing to live for, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. He had hurt a lot of people—Scott with the bite, Derek with the death of his sister and with forcing him to become Alpha when he wasn't ready to and Lydia. Dear beautiful Lydia who reminded him so much of his wife of his Cecilia. She was beautiful and brilliant—the perfect balance of acerbic wit and sheer force of will—all fire and grace. That was what had drawn Peter to her in the first place; he did not want her to replace his wife, but she reminded him so strongly of Cecilia that he just couldn't turn away. In retrospect, he realized that she was everything that he always wanted his daughter to be. His daughter, the child that he never got to meet because she died inside of her mother in the fire the day that Peter lost everything.

Shaking his head, Peter needed to move away from those thoughts, they only led to darkness. Watching his nephew—his only family—making breakfast for Lydia while the pups sat at the table eating and talking about sports he was reminded of what it had been like with his family, before the fire. Lydia snuggled the baby to her chest as she watched Derek move around the kitchen making her an omelet—spinach and cheese it smells like—the girl's eyes appraising and appreciative. Yes, Lydia is exactly what his nephew needs—she is nurturing and loving but she will call him on his shit and force him to live his life instead of brooding it away and ending up bitter and lonely like Peter. In his observation, Peter catches Isaac watching the alpha and priestess as well, smirking, he thinks that maybe he is not the only one who want to see the two happy.

As Derek sits Lydia's plate in front of her, she smiles at the first bite, "Oh God, this may be better than yesterday," she says before shoving in the next bite.

"Well today I have actual ingredients," he smiles at her, oblivious to the eyes on them as he takes baby Jacob from her so she can eat.

"I don't even like spinach, but this is awesome."

"Well you need the iron so I am glad you like it," He looks down, running his finger over the baby's head before looking to the pack, who is now cleaning up their plates, Isaac loading the dish washer.

"So," his tone changes to all business, "How are we going to get Boyd and Erica back?"

"I have an idea," Peter steps forward, ignoring Lydia's sigh. "We know that the Alpha pack has them and if they have not killed them, it is because they want something from us. Now the logical choice is Lydia, but we need to go to them as if we are completely ignorant to that idea. I say, I approach them, present myself as willing to sell you out and find out what they want. Then I report back to you where they are being held and we form a plan of attack."  
"Okay, but how do we know that you will not really betray us and just hand Lydia over to them?" Jackson asks.

"He won't," Lydia says confidently from the table where she is finishing her food, "Peter owes me his life and he is not going to screw that up by betraying me. I think that approaching them is a good idea, we need the recon, but we also need proof that Erica and Boyd are alive. How do we find the Alpha pack?"

"They are in the area; they tagged the house which leads me to believe that they are near there. We lost any scent of them in the woods near where Boyd and Erica disappeared so I think that they are holed up in the woods." Derek says, still rubbing Jacob's back as he paced the living room.

"Wait," Scott pipes up from the couch, "The scent disappeared, like completely, we were too deep in the woods for a car to have picked them up so what if they went underground?"  
"Where exactly did you lose the scent?" Peter steps forward and Derek explains the location, nodding Peter agreed, "Yeah, there are old mine tunnels right around there, we used to use them on full moons to restrain new wolves and travel without the hunters knowing. They could be down there."

"Okay, so creepy Pete goes trolling in the mines to find the Alpha's, he finds them and what? They don't kill him on sight because of his winning personality?" Stiles snarks from the table.

"No, they don't kill him because they will be interested in his deal. They are opportunist, they will hear him out." Derek responds his patience getting thin with the quipping human.

"Okay, I will head there now. I will present myself as looking to make a deal that ends with me alive and the Beta's released. If I say I want to be Alpha again, they will believe that motivation. I will report back to you. I will call you as soon as I know anything, be ready to defend yourselves if something goes wrong and they attack." Everyone nods their assent. Isaac, Jackson and Scott move to research the Alpha pack while Lydia and Stiles pull up the city blue prints on the mine shafts under the reserve. With this knowledge, Peter and Derek plot out the best point of entry and points of defense if this is where the Alpha pack is holed up. They also narrow the spaces that they could be holding Erica and Boyd down to a few areas and Peter works out a way to enter through one of them in order to try to bet eyes on the two missing Betas.

As the afternoon approaches, they all ready themselves to execute the plan. Peter leaving to confront the Alpha pack while the others travel to their secure points near the mine's entrances to back Peter up if necessary. Lydia was tense as they all left, it having been decided that she was to stay at the house with Jacob because that was where she was needed. She hated waiting and she felt helpless, something that she was not good at. Rocking Jacob as she paced, Lydia was suddenly hit with a vision—Derek being stabbed from behind, claws digging into his right side as he screamed out, fighting back. He was weak and wounded. He needed her. Crying out as the vision faded, Lydia eased herself to the floor, clutching the baby to her chest and trying to control her sobs. She needed to help them, her pack was in danger.


	7. Rescue and Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please leave me some feedback! I am open to all reviews. Thanks!

Chapter 7

As Lydia's sobs rang out, Jacob joined her, scared because of Lydia's fear. After a few moments, she registers Jacob's cries and, gasping for air, she gently lays the baby on the couch cushion trying to calm down. Crawling to her purse behind the couch, Lydia dug through it, grabbing her phone and calling Stiles.

"What?" He whispers sharply into the phone.

"Stiles, there is something wrong," she begins.

"Wrong, with you? Jacob? With who?"

"Derek, there is something wrong with Derek, they stabbed him," she rambles quickly into the phone.

"Um, Lydia Derek just went into the tunnels. Peter signaled him that he had found Erica and Boyd. I am sure,"

"He is hurt, someone caught him and he is bleeding, help him," She cut him off, yelling into the phone, making Jacob scream louder.

"Lydia," he sounded frustrated, then suddenly he was cut off as Scott grabbed the phone, "Lydia what's wrong? How do you know Derek is hurt?"

She recoils a bit at Scott's voice, but answers, "I saw it, I was walking around trying to get Jacob to sleep and I just saw it—like I was in room. He is in a brick tunnel, there is an alcove that is dark and there is water a few inches deep on the floor. I think," She closed her eyes, trying to remember every detail, "I think that Erica was there, hanging from the wall. I could see curly blond hair and hear screaming. Scott, I know I sound crazy but he is in danger, please help him," She begged.

"Okay Lydia, I am heading down there now, I will call you back as soon as I know anything." Hearing the phone click, Lydia looks up from the floor to the squalling baby, kicking his arms and legs and feels completely helpless.

Turning to his baffled best friend, Scott hands the cell phone back to him, "Peter, we are going back in, Derek is hurt," the boy transforms, giving himself over to the wolf.

"Wait, what," Stiles stammers, "You believe Lydia can see what is going on?"

"She is a priestess, it is her duty to protect Derek, if he is in trouble, she will know." Peter clarified, also turning. Scott and Peter move for the tunnel that Derek had entered no fifteen minutes before. After several hundred yards, the smell of blood started to permeate the tunnel. It was far off and diluted by the water retained in the bottom of the tunnel, but it was clearly blood. Following that smell for a few more minutes the two Beta's moved as quietly as possible. Amazingly, they were able to sneak up on the Alpha guarding Erica and Boyd and fighting with a very injured Derek. After a moment's assessment, Scott noted two others, both Alphas who looked to be dead on the floor behind where Derek and this one, a large, though not as large as Derek or Boyd, wolf with light hair and a wicked right hook. Hitting Derek, once more, the Alpha moved in for the kill, only to be cut off by Scott attacking him from behind, sinking his claws into the wolf's neck and ripping at his spinal cord. Feeling it break and the wolf's body go limp, Scott is overwhelmed with the reality of having killed someone. Letting the dead Alpha drop to the ground, he breathes heavy for a moment before locking eyes with Derek, who has fallen to his knees, clutching his heavily bleeding right side.

"Free them," He growled and Scott's eyes were drawn to Boyd and Erica, both nearly unconscious, hanging from chains on the wall. Jackson and Isaac enter from the other side of the tunnel, taking in the carnage and move to free Boyd while, Scott works on breaking Erica's chains. After a few minutes, Boyd is being supported by Jackson on one side and Isaac on the other and Scott is cradling Erica who has passed out completely.  
"Take them out to the cars and then return, we have to finish up here," Peter states, looking to Scott and then Derek, both of whom nod, understanding what he means. Scott runs quickly down the tunnel, greeting the daylight with both joy and fear; joy at being out of that tunnel that smelled like death and blood and despair, but fear at the thought being a murderer in the daylight. How was he supposed to process the fact that he had just killed someone—even if they were an evil Alpha werewolf, he was now a murderer.

Handing Erica over to Stiles, who had met him just outside the tunnel, Scott looks into his friend's wide questioning eyes and says, "Get her in the car, we will be out soon."

Stiles shifts the girl against his chest and nods, knowing that for now his questions don't matter. Carrying her back to the jeep, he eases her down in the back, brushing her matted hair away from her face, he whispers, "Hey, it's okay catwoman, I've got you now."

Moments later Isaac and Jackson exit the same tunnel Scott had just run back into carrying Boyd's heavier weight between them. Hoisting him down into the Camaro, they turn to Stiles who asks, "What the hell happened down there?"  
"I don't know, we came in and found Derek on the floor, injured, two Alpha's dead around him and Scott finishing off a third. He told us to get Erica and Boyd, who were chained to the wall and get out of there."

"Then why did Scott go back down there?" Stiles asked on the verge of hysteria.

Jackson shrugged, "I don't know."

Isaac shrugs as well, having an idea, but not wanting to say anything if he was wrong.

Once Scott got back down to the alcove, he looked at Peter, who had pulled a broadsword out of his coat, "We finish this," the older Beta said quietly. Scott nods, moving to help Derek up just as he hears Peter bring the sharp blade down on the dead Alpha to Derek's right, he flinches slightly, and then is ashamed of showing that weakness until Derek painfully brings a hand to the back of his neck, squeezing it slightly. The gesture is oddly paternal and supportive and it does make Scott feel better as he hears the next two blade falls, splitting the other two Alpha's at the waist—insuring their deaths. "Let's go," Peter says somberly, lifting Derek's other arm, Scott settling under the arm that had been over his shoulder and they carried their heavily bleeding Alpha back out of the tunnel.

As they came out of the tunnel, they all felt relief as the fresh air, not tinged with blood, greeted them. Quickly they loaded Derek in the passenger seat of the car, Peter driving and Scott joining Boyd in the back. Tossing a cell phone back over the seat to Scott, Peter barked out, "Call your boss, we are going to need him," before speeding away towards the highway, looping around the town twice, in two different ways before heading to Derek's house. Stiles following with Erica, Isaac and Jackson, all understanding that they needed to make sure no one was following them before they headed home.

Lydia met them at the back door, tears still streaming down her face, the baby finally calm. "Oh, God," she says as Peter and Scott lift Derek out of the car and help him up the stairs to the house, looking back at the others, she holds the door open for Stiles to carry in Erica and Isaac and Jackson to all but drag Boyd up the stairs and into the house.

"Deaton should be here any minute," Scott says to her, she nods, frozen for a moment before, handing the baby to Isaac and moving to the closets and bathrooms, collecting medical supplies and clean towels. "Lay them on the floor, he is going to need a place to work," She says as she lays out clean sheets over the hard wood floor. Stiles lowers Erica to the sheet, gently brushing her hair back from her face and taking her hand.

Looking to Jackson, she says, "Come on," gesturing for him to lower Boyd to the sheet. Standing, she helps him to settle the much larger wolf onto the floor, laying him on his back. Looking over the boy, she looks for any glaring wounds. Both Boyd and Erica are covered with deep stab wounds that are healing slowly. They are dirty and dehydrated but they seem like they will heal. Finally, Lydia looks to Derek, standing, she gestures for Peter and Scott to put him on the kitchen table as he is currently bleeding the most. Reaching for the scissors, she cuts away his t- shirt and begins surveying the deep claw marks on his side. His whole chest is a mosaic of red and purple bruises, there are several puncture wounds and it looks like his ribs are broken on his right side. Most of the blood is coming from four very jagged slash marks that have exposed the bone of those broken ribs.

Taking a breath, Lydia gasps out an "Oh God," before pressing a towel to the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Derek lifts his hand to the back of her head, pulling the girl closer, "Lydia," he groans, rubbing his thumb over her cheek, inadvertently smearing blood over it, "Lydia take care of Erica and Boyd, I will be fine." She smirks, brushing her fingers over his cheek bone as she presses firmly on an exposed rib, resetting it and causing him to scream out, his eyes flashing red. "Yeah, okay." She raises an eyebrow, "Deaton is here anyway, let's let him determine who is fine."

"I agree," the kind man says from behind her, taking in the way that Derek is still holding the back of the girl's head and the gentle way that the priestess is rubbing the alpha's face. After quickly examining the young Alpha, Deaton says, "Well you took one hell of a beating and because it was from other, older Alphas it is going to take you more time than usual to heal. Ms. Martin reset the compound fracture to your ribs and has slowed to bleeding considerably. I am going to clean up the wounds and stitch the worst ones closed. But first I am going to give you something for the pain," Derek grunted at the vet's probing fingers before saying, "Erica and Boyd?"

Nodding Deaton continues, "Of course, they are severely dehydrated and malnourished, I don't think that either of them have eaten or drank anything in days, but their bodies are slowly healing the damage done by the torture that they endured. A few days bed rest and IV fluids and they should be okay. The thing we need to worry about most will be the mental anguished caused by this ordeal. For now they are both sedated and on IV fluids and I cleaned and dressed their wounds." Derek nodded as the pain medicine kicked in and he drifted out of consciousness, Lydia taking his hand. Deaton worked quickly around Lydia who never realized the Alpha's hand, setting broken bones, cleaning and stitching the myriad of wounds on Derek's torso and one particularly nasty one on his head before announcing that the Alpha could be moved upstairs to his bed.

After some general bitching by the Beta's about who would have to carry Derek's heavy ass of the stairs, Lydia growled that Isaac and Jackson would take him to his room and if they hurt him at all in the process that they would need the doctor. Deaton and Peter both chuckled as the two moved to lift him; one at his shoulders the other at his feet, Scott coming to stabilize his middle where the majority of the damage had been done. After a few minutes, Derek was settled in his own bed, Lydia covering him up and making sure that he at least look comfortable because whatever Deaton had given him had knocked him completely out. After looking at him for a moment, Lydia reluctantly kissed his forehead and exited the room.

Joining the others downstairs, she looked to Peter, "What the hell happened?"

With her head downcast, her fist cinched at her side, chest heaving as she repressed her emotions and Derek's blood still smeared on her face and clothes, she looked like a warrior, not a teenage girl. Peter took a moment to consider that before responding, "We followed the plan, I went in and presented myself as a trader, they were interested. They said that they had heard about my resurrection and wanted to learn more about how I did it. I don't think that they know about you, not really. They know that we have a secret, maybe they even know that we have a priestess, but they don't know who it is. They said that they were willing to trade the Betas for the information on resurrection. I requested to see them and they took me to Erica and Boyd. You can see the shape they are in, the Alphas questioned them for several days about what they knew about me and the Kanima. I left after setting a time to trade them and then Derek moved in, I guess that he was attacked then as I was exiting the tunnel, Scott was on the phone with you. He said that we had to go back so we did. We got them out and brought them here." Processing the information and looking to Scott for affirmation, the redhead nodded.

"Okay," before shocking everyone and hugging Scott, "Thank you for believing me," she whispered into his chest before pulling back. He nodded into her hair, rubbing her back for a minute. Lydia looked into his eyes and knew that there was more to the story and that something in Scott had changed, but she also knew not to ask just yet. "Okay, I am sure that everyone is hungry and tired, how about Jackson and Stiles go get some food and I set up a place for everyone to crash for the night. I think it is best if we all stay together." They all nod and quietly move to find things to keep them busy while Jackson and Stiles take food orders. Once Stiles gets to Lydia, she pulls him outside, "I don't know what happened to Scott, but he needs help. He is hurting and he is not going to talk to us, so it is up to you to make sure he has what he needs."  
Stiles nods solemnly, understanding her, "I know, I already put it in progress. Lydia," he takes her hand and looks down for a minute before meeting her eyes, "I am sorry that I gave you a hard time earlier, I should have trusted you. It will not happen again." She nodded, hugging him quickly before releasing him so he could leave.

"Um, Lydia," Isaac says very unsure, "What?"

"I think that there is something wrong with baby Jake, he is making a weird face and looks upset," Scrunching her brow, she runs back into the house and over to the baby where he was asleep on the couch. Her worry melts away when she sees, him, giggling, she looks to the worried wolf, "He is fine, he is just pooping," After a moment Isaac understands what she is saying and he blushes a bit, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry, I just, I didn't know."  
"No, thank you Isaac, I know you were trying to protect him, That is a good thing. Now will you get me his diaper bag?"

Nodding the boy grabs the bag and watches intently as Lydia unpacks everything and talks to the baby as she changes his diaper. Isaac doesn't even flinch at the smell when she asks him to take the soiled diaper to the can outside. Once he returns, Lydia has settled into one of the chairs, her feet curled under her and a blanket over her shoulder and arm, covering the suckling child there. She smiles at Isaac as he shyly looks at her. "Isaac, how are you doing with everything that happened today?" She prods gently, rubbing Jacob's feet.

"Um, I don't know. I hate that anyone got hurt and that Scott and Derek had to kill, I know that is hard for them, but I am glad we have everyone back home again. I feel like our family can finally be whole, I just hope that none of them are too broken."  
Lydia nods, "Yeah, I understand, the internal wounds are much worse than the external one sometimes, but this pack is strong, all of you have been through so much and I think that you will get each other through this as well." Isaac smile gently at her confidence in them and then he looks at Boyd and Erica, "Do you think that they will wake up soon?"

"Um, I don't know. Dr. Deaton sedated them so their bodies could focus on healing and rehydrating, but I am sure that they will be awake by tomorrow."

He nodded as Stiles and Jackson entered the house again, Lydia raised an eyebrow at Stiles who whispered, "Backyard." She nodded and went back to focusing on Jacob.

Scott had spent the last hour punching the trees in Derek's backyard. He used his human strength and fought his healing, needing to feel the pain; to make the pain on the inside, tangible on the outside. His hands were bruised and bloody, blood running up is arms and his shirt long since torn off in a fit of rage after he looked down and saw the blood of the person—the Alpha—that he had killed was all over it. His rage blinded him, but he could not make the pain in his chest go away. He had killed someone, he was a murderer. Hitting the tree again, he stopped, pressing his bloody fist to the rough bark and then pressing his forehead against the spot worn smooth by his fist. Suddenly he felt his body relax as the smell of jasmine and eucalyptus enveloped him. It took a second for him to realize that arms had actually wrapped around his chest, strong slender hands coming to rest over his heart. Taking a deep breath, Scott's legs gave out and he allowed the body behind him to guide him to the ground.

"Scott, its okay," a soft voice whispered, brushing his hair back and pulling him further into an embrace.

"No Allison," he sobbed, "I killed someone, it is never going to be okay again."


	8. Reunion

Allison gently pulls Scott closer to her chest, rubbing her fingers through his hair, over the planes of his face and shoulders, his ear resting over her heart, "Shh, just let it out." She whispered, letting him cry.

As her hands traced his skin, Scott let his walls drop and the bones and flesh of his hands began to knit back together. "Shhh," she ran her hand down his arm, the skin there healing as well.

Once Scott was calmer, he leaned back and pressed his forehead against hers, "Allison, how can you think that this is okay. I killed someone, an Alpha and now I have to deal with that and the fact that I am on your Dad's hit list."

Allison paled a bit at that thought, taking his face in her hands, she kissed him fiercely, "Scott I would never let them hurt you. I know I have fucked up a lot lately and I don't deserve to be with you right now, but God, I would never let him hurt you."

"Allison, that is not really up to you," he reminded.

"Scott you killed a member of the Alpha pack that had kidnapped two of your pack members and was trying to kill Derek," She began.

"Yeah, exactly, I killed. Period. Erica and Boyd are Derek's pack, I am not officially part of his pack and I killed for him, I broke the code," he seemed to be processing the day.

"No matter the current state of you relationship, you killed to protect Derek. Scott that is honorable and justifiable. I understand vengeance and the lust for revenge. It made me do a lot of things that I regret and that I am going to spend a long time making up for but, Scott do you think what you did was wrong?"

Scott weighed her question, considering his answer and the ramification of that answer, "No." He said solemnly, "No, I don't. I didn't think about anything, when I got in that tunnel and I saw Derek bleeding and in danger, I just acted. It was, it was like instinct and I protected the pack, my pack and I would do it again, I just, I don't know how to be okay with that." He knew that he sounded crazy but he needed to get this out.

"I know," she whispered against his lips, "I know you would do that to protect any of these people and that is what makes you so beautiful. That is why I love you so much."

"Do you still love me?" He sounded so broken as he asked the question.

"Oh God Scott, I never stopped. Me wanting a break was never about me not loving _you_ , it was about me not loving _me_. Scott I attacked people and was willing to kill—Derek, Erica, even Boyd—because I was sad and lost and angry. Scott you killed for love, for loyalty. I wanted to kill for revenge. I wasn't good enough for you to love, for anyone to love. I am still not." She sobbed.

Grabbing her face Scott kissed her deeply, franticly, "Why don't you let me decide that?" He whispers before standing, lifting Allison with him and backing her to the tree that he had been hitting. Their kisses became more frenzied as they began to pull at each other's clothing and zippers. Quickly lifting her skirt and freeing himself from the confines of his jeans, Scott thrust into Allison with a sound that landed somewhere between a sob and a moan. As they made love against the tree in the backyard of the newest Hale house, they expressed all of the pain and frustration and unsaid betrayals of the last few weeks; emptying their secrets against each other's skin and lips and souls. They came with a release of physical pleasure but also of mental anguish. They needed this act to heal the wounds that they had caused each other and themselves. As they came down from the high of their joining, they panted against one another, both feeling freer and more at peace within their own skin than they had in weeks. Kissing as they readjusted their clothes, Allison's back raw from the bark of the tree, Scott unable to stop touching her, "I love you, I love you, I love you," he chanted to which she replied in kind.

"I know you wanted time, but Allison I need you with me, beside me. Please stay," He asked, his eyes closed, unable to watch her reject him.

"Always, I will always be here," she responded, relieved that he would want her back after what she did to him and to his pack mates. She knew that she had a lot to make up for and that building trust with the pack was going to be difficult after what she had done, but Scott was worth the work that lay ahead of her.

Smiling to herself as she move away from the window and went to check on Erica and Boyd, Lydia thought that maybe, just maybe, they could all make this work. Deaton had left her with detailed instructions on how to check and change the dressing for the injured wolves' wounds and how to inject them with antibiotics and pain medication, "Even though they are wolves, it is going to take them at least a few days to heal because of the prolonged damage done and the fact that they were tortured by Alphas, but they will come out of this," He had told her with a gentle smile.

"What about Derek?" She asked, looking down at Jacob and a little scared of his answer.

Again Deaton smiled at her, reaching out to rub the baby's tiny hand, "Don't worry Lydia, your Alpha will be just fine. Just keep his wounds clean and make him take it easy for a few days." Just as she was going to say 'he is not mine,' Deaton added, "You seem to be taking very good care of this little one, he is much healthier than he was just a few days ago."

"Thank you," Lydia smiled, not sure she knew how to respond to the compliment. With that he left the house, needing to get back to his practice. Lydia had Isaac help her check on Erica and Boyd and then she had him help her rearrange some furniture in a large room off the kitchen that had been being used as a storage area. Thankfully, while there were several boxes of stuff that Laura had obviously never gotten to unpack, there were also three disassembled beds and an old dresser. None of it was fancy, but for now it would do.

"Well Isaac," She started, putting her hands on her hips, "I think we may have just found a solution to our rooming problem." The room was large and it could house several but it needed to be cleaned and organized—two of Isaac's specialties.

"It looks like it was a garage or something," Isaac comments, to which Lydia nods, "Yeah I think so, but for now it is going to be a bedroom for the pack. Now, let's get this stuff moved out and these beds set up and I will see if I can find some sheets and bedding." He nods, "Okay."

"Jackson, Stiles?" Lydia calls in a voice that could rival a generals, "What?" The boys come walking, or in Stiles case, stumbling, into the room, "You are going to help Isaac set up these extra beds in here and move these boxes out of the way," She ordered.

"Why doesn't McCall have to help?" Jackson whined as the three boys moved to the mess in front of them, "Because he is busy," Lydia responded curtly.

"Screwing Allison in the backyard isn't an excuse to get out of work," Jackson fixes her with a look of insubordination.

"What?" Stiles' head jerks up to the others comically and Isaac subtly laughs and continues setting up the bed frame he is holding.

"Jealous?" Lydia crosses her arms and stares back at him.

"No," Jackson says in a voice that sounds as immature and childish as the look on his face. After a moment they both burst into laughter, Isaac joining them and Stiles stammering, "Seriously, the backyard."

"Just get the beds set up," She says, still chuckling. Checking to see that Jacob is still sleeping in the nest of pillows and blankets that she set up on the couch, she jogs up the stairs and continues her search for sheets for the new beds. Finding the linen closet, she collects the sheets and blankets that she needs, noting that she will need to buy some proper bedding soon. As she begins to pile the items that she found up, she hears a quiet painful moaning from Derek's closed door. Moving closer she listens for a moment, hearing him fret a bit more. Opening the door, she rushes to the bed when she realizes that he had torn at the stitches in his side and the bandage is soaked through with blood. Derek is not quite awake, but she knows that she is going to have to wake him. Quickly running down the stairs, Lydia grabs the bag of medical supplies that Deaton left her and runs back upstairs as quietly as she can. She doesn't want the others to hear her because she knows that Derek wouldn't want them to see him weak.

Re-entering the room, she gently closes the door behind her finding Derek more lucid. "Hey" she whispered.

"Hey," he croaks, wincing as he tries to move.

"Whoa, whoa, stop trying to move you are just going to pull the stitches more," She moves swiftly to still his movement with her right hand on his chest while her left hand removes the bandages. "Ow!" he yelps as the bandage pulled on the bloody wound.

"Hold still," she warned, removing the rest of the bandage and prepping a gauze with antiseptic and pressing it to the bloody gashes in his flesh. Bruises were forming around the wounds and they looked painful, but the bone was no longer visible and the muscle was slowly knitting back together. As the gauze made contact with his skin, Derek hissed loudly, his body contracted in pain.

"Sorry," she whispered, quickly cleaning the wound and re-bandaging it. "I am so sorry."

Panting for a moment, he says, "Thank you, I guess I tore my stitches in my sleep."

"Yeah," she runs her hand through his hair, smiling softly, "How are you feeling now?"

Sighing and pressing his eyes shut, "Tired, how is Scott?" He opens his eyes, the pain clear in them.

"He is struggling but he will be okay," She hesitates, "Allison is with him."

Nodding, Derek responds, "Good, he needs her right now. She is his anchor and he is going to need her to get through this." His breath hitched again in pain. Reaching for the bag on the nightstand, Lydia rummaged around in it for a moment, coming out of it with two pre- drawn syringes. "What's that?" Derek asked, a little frightened.

"An antibiotic and something for the pain, Deaton said it would help you heal faster," She answers.

"Lydia, I," he starts, but she cuts him off, "I know you think that you need to be alert, but the Alpha pack got their asses handed to them today and they are not going to attack tonight, we need you to recover as soon as possible so take the medicine and heal. I have got this." She watches his face consider her words, his body is exhausted and traumatized, but he wants to fight her, she can see it.

"The pack is not safe, there are two more Alpha's out there and they will want revenge. They will come after me and Scott," placing her hand on his chest again, she says, "Yeah, they will and you need to be in top fighting shape when that happens, but right now you couldn't fight off Jacob so just get some rest." Finally he nodded and she quickly plunged the needles into his arm. "It will take a few minutes to kick in," She warns. He nods, "Stay?" he whispers and Lydia is a little shocked but nods at him, "Okay, let me go get Jacob, it is time for him to eat." He nods.

Lydia runs down the stairs, smiling at the now wide awake baby on the couch, picking him up, she grabs his blanket and carries him back upstairs. Derek smiles at her as she settles on the bed beside him, his hand coming up to weakly caress Jacob's foot ask he eats. After a few minutes, the alpha gives over to the pain meds and falls asleep peacefully. Lydia lies beside him and watches over him for a long while after he is lost in slumber.

After watching Derek sleep for a while Lydia felt Jacob fall asleep as well. Looking at the baby as his soft breath brushed against her skin, she was drawn to the similar sound of Derek breathing. So much had happened in the past few days that she wasn't sure how to process it all. Part of her wanted to run screaming from the house, but that part was quickly overshadowed by the part of her that was intricately linked to these people in ways that she did not understand. Gazing at Derek, she noticed that even with the pain meds, his face was tense with discomfort and she wished that there was something more she could do to help. Sighing, she pulled the blankets up around the Alpha and exited the room. Walking across the hall to put Jacob in the portable bassinet that Scott and Stiles had purchased the night they found him. Tucking the baby in safely and making sure that he was comfortable, she kissed his little head and closed the door softy behind her. Grabbing the med kit and the blankets and sheets that she found, Lydia jogged down the steps and found that Allison and Scott were helping set up the room and it was really coming together.

"Hey," Scott looked surprised at her appearance, "how is he?" Scott raised his eyebrows to indicate that he was talking about Derek.

"He is doing okay. I changed his bandages and gave him another dose of antibiotics and pain meds so he is going to be out for a while. He is mostly worried about you all," She reached out and squeezed Scott's hand lightly before moving forward into the room. They had moved all of the boxes out and set up three beds, two full sized and one twin. The walls were a light yellow and the dark hardwood floors that ran through the whole house continued into this room. With French doors that led outside at the far end of the room, it was very workable. "Where did you guys put all of the boxes?" she quirked her head.

"There is a garden shed outside, it is water tight so we put them in there. Did you get bedding?" Stiles answers. She nods, handing one set to Isaac and another to Stiles, taking the third set for herself and all of them made quick work of making the beds.

"Okay, boys, will you move Boyd in here, put him in the full bed furthest from the doors," Lydia looked at Jackson and Isaac, her request an obvious order. They nodded and went into the living room and gently lifted the much larger, unconscious boy from the floor and transported him into the bed. Lydia pulled the blankets back before they laid him down and tucked him in after the boys lowered him into the bed. Setting up his IV line from the headboard, Lydia checked his bandages. A few were leaking so she turned to Isaac, "Can you hand me the med bag?"

He quickly brought it to her as she stripped the bandages. Jackson winced as she cleaned the exposed wounds, knowing that it must hurt and hating that his pack mate had to go through the torture that Boyd and Erica had obviously gone through. As Lydia redressed the boy's wounds, her hands fluttering about in gentle yet precise movements, the rest of the pack watched as the reality of the last few days hit them. Boyd and Erica could have died. Derek could have died. Scott killed someone to protect them. None of them knew quiet how to process that but they knew that from now on, they were in this together, because apart, they didn't stand a chance. Injecting more antibiotics and pain medication into Boyd's IV Lydia ran a gentle hand over his still cheek bone before turning to the others.

"Well, he will be out for the rest of the night, but I don't think we should leave either of them alone right now. They have been through hell, the last thing we need is for them to wake up alone in a foreign house." Everyone nodded.

"Agreed, so I will work out a schedule for us to sit watch through the night as soon as we get Erica settled," Stiles offered.

"Not so fast," Lydia stopped them, "Move Erica to my bathroom." She said as she exited the room, leaving a few very confused boys behind her. Allison smiled catching on to Lydia's plan and followed the redhead up the stairs. Shrugging at the others, Scott moved to lift Erica, balancing her IV on her stomach as he carried her up the stairs grateful that she was much lighter that Derek.

Once he got to Lydia's room, he found Allison staring confused at the tiny baby in the middle of the bed as Lydia collected a set of pj's and a few towels. "Just put her on the bathroom floor," Lydia instructed, not taking the time to explain Jacob to Allison who had taken to pointing at the child with a confused face.

"Um, Lydia, what is that?" The bewildered girl asked.

"A baby," Lydia's eyes widened in sarcasm.

"Uh yeah, but what is it doing here?" The perplexed hunter followed the priestess into the bathroom and helped her strip Erica out of her ruined t- shirt.

"He lives here for now, Derek and I are responsible for him. It is kind of a long story but Derek found him the other night at the Hale house. He was a few hours old, naked and half frozen. I heard him crying in my sleep and I, once again, wondered through the woods to save him."

"Save him how? You said Derek found him? And who the hell leaves a newborn on the porch of a burned out house in the middle of the woods in the freezing cold?" Allison asks as they sit Erica up and lean her against the side of the tub, Lydia warming the water before pulling the detached shower head down and beginning to wash the grime and a week's worth of sewer out of Erica's thick hair.

"Well that is the 65 million dollar question, what we do know is that he is a werewolf, a companion to the priestesses of Cerridwen, and that his mother may be dead. I responded to him because as a priestess of Cerridwen it is my responsibility to protect my companion wolves. So I saved him."

"Back up to the part where you are a priestess of Cariwynds?"

"Cerridwen, the Celtic goddess of the moon and fertility; I just found out about it too and our priority has been to get Erica and Boyd back and take care of Jacob, so I haven't had much time to research it. The Hales have been companions of the priestesses for about a millennia and are one of the oldest and most powerfully connected were- families, so it is easy to wonder if whoever took him from his mother intentionally brought him to Derek and I, a companion Alpha is very rare and to have one in this close proximity to a priestess is even more rare. I think someone wanted us to keep him safe and that is what we are going to do."

Nodding Allison worked quietly for a few moments washing and conditioning Erica's hair took a while and then the two girls moved to wash the grime away from the girl's face. "Dear lord, they really did a number on her didn't they?" Lydia grumbled, cutting the tank top away from the girl's skin and pulling the soiled bandages off of her wounds revealing a menagerie of puncture wounds and dark bruises. Cleaning them and then cleaning the rest of her filthy skin, she redressed the wounds. Moving to her pants, she and Allison removed them as gently as possible which was no small feat because they were tight to begin with but after several days being water logged they were nearly stuck to the poor girl's skin. Finally freeing her of the denim the girls gently scrubbed her skin clean and then dried it. Looking at each other, they both shrugged before removing her underwear and bra both of which were filthy.

"She is going to be so pissed that we striped her," Allison grumbled.

"Maybe, but she will be more comfortable and heal faster if she is clean. I know after my stint in the woods I didn't care who saw me naked if it meant being clean and warm again," Lydia explained as she dried Erica's skin and slide soft flannel pajama pants on her and a white tank top over her head so that they would not disturb her IV. "Scott," she called quietly so she didn't wake Jacob, "Yeah," the beta re- entered the bathroom, looking a bit confused at the now clean state of Erica.

"Can you please take her back downstairs?" He nods before lifting the newly clean blonde and carrying her down the stairs to the impromptu recovery wing of the house. Gently placing Erica into the twin bed Lydia tucked her in as she had with Boyd. Hearing Jacob let out a squawk, she looked to Isaac, "Isaac would you?" He nodded and ran up the stairs to get the baby. Administering the antibiotics and pain meds, Lydia squeezed the other girl's hand, "Welcome home Erica," she whispered before standing and meeting Isaac with the hungry baby in the living room. She quickly changed him before subtly opening her top and covering herself with a blanket she turned to the rest of the group as the baby latched on and she took a seat in a comfortable chair by the fireplace.

"Okay, for tonight I think that it is best that everyone stay here. Allison, you need to arrange that with your dad because we don't need two threats coming for us right now. Derek said that there are still at least two members of the Alpha pack and that they will come after us, so no one leaves alone and no human is ever without at least two wolves. Are we clear?" Lydia hands out orders like a general and everyone has to respect her wishes. Allison is just staring, "You responded to him, by breastfeeding?" "That is all you got out of this conversation?" Lydia asks confused.

"Well it is a bit of a shock," The brunette responds.

"Yeah, it was a shock to the rest of us as well, but it is what Jacob needed to survive and so my body responded to him. It is actually useful; I mean how else was I going to convince my mother that he is mine?"

"What? Your mom thinks you had a baby?" Allison is shocked.

"Yep, that is why I am living here at the Hale house for wayward teens." Lydia snarked, but Allison understood that beneath the snappy response her friend was hurting at the loss of her mother, a pain that Allison knew well. While she had blamed Derek for her mother's death, she has come to realize that her mother as she knew her, or believed her to be, had never existed. Her mother was a murder, a hunter and Allison had yet to come to terms with the mass of lies and violence that her mother actually was. Offering her friend a sad smile and a hug, she went to call her father on an untraceable line and let him know that she was staying with Lydia for the weekend. He agreed, always seeming distracted since her mother's death. Entering the house again, Allison is overwhelmed by the warmth of the place— _this is what home should feel like not cold like the one she lived in_. Lydia has moved the baby to her shoulder where she is rubbing light circles on his back, "Oh good, did you work it out with your dad?" The other girl asks. Allison nods, "Of course I did."

"Well you and Scott will be staying in my room tonight, please, I beg you, no sex in my bed!" Everyone chuckles as they all begin to move away. Isaac to his room, Jackson and Stiles to the guest/ recovery room to take turns watching the patients. As Lydia begins up the stairs, Allison stops her, "Wait, if we are in your room, where are you sleeping?"

For a moment Allison could a sworn that Lydia blushed when Isaac answered, "With Derek," before passing them and hopping up the stairs happily. Lydia quickly added, "And Jacob, with Derek and Jacob. He will be out for the rest of the night but if he wakes up and needs anything, I will be there." She defends as they climb the stairs. Allison looks at Scott who is trying to repress a giggle and offers an "Unm, hum, that is a great excuse." Lydia rolls her eyes and marches into the Alpha's bedroom, still holding hands with Scott, Allison catches Isaac's eyes and they both smile at each other, clear that they each have a partner in matchmaking the Alpha and the priestess.

As the house settles down for the night and nine heartbeats slow in sleep the deep even breath of the pack lulls Isaac to sleep. For the first time in a long time Isaac is secure in the knowledge that his family is all around him and for the moment they are all safe. Somehow he doesn't even fear the wrath of the coming Alphas because he knows that together they can face anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loved it? Hated it? Questions? Suggestions? Please comment below! Thanks!


	9. Confrontation

Derek woke from his drugged sleep the next morning to one of the most awing sights he had ever experienced. Lydia was sitting in the window seat opposite the bed feeding Jacob. She was wearing one of Derek's light blue Henley t- shirts that was huge on her, one shoulder falling off of her and the four buttons now open so she could hold the baby to her breast. Her smooth pale legs were tucked under, the short white cotton shorts she was wearing doing little to cover them. Her thick red curls were down, tossed free and carelessly over her shoulder as she smiled at the baby and played with his fingers. The way the sun filtered in through the curtains, highlighting her fiery hair and skin she looked like the goddess that she was born to serve. Derek felt enraptured by her; he knew that he could not allow anything between the two of them but he was drawn to her in a way that he could not explain. He had tried to chalk it up to his role as her companion, but the longer he was near her, the more her felt connect to the girl and not the priestess.

Almost as if she sensed that he was awake she looked over at him, catching his eye and smiling; Lydia's smile was always beautiful but there was something truly amazing about the way she smiled when she was holding Jacob, like she was really content and not just putting on a show for everyone else. "Good morning," she said quietly as not to disturb the baby. "How are you feeling today?"

Taking a breath at her voice shaking him out of his observations he took stock of his faculties, "Um, I am okay, I am feeling a lot stronger actually," he said, pushing himself up into a sitting position wincing only slightly.

"Don't overdo it," she warns.

"I'm fine," he assures, "How are the others?"

"Boyd and Erica are still out, I changed their bandages and gave them the antibiotics and pain meds that Dr. Deaton left. They seem to healing but not as quickly as you," shifting the baby she continued, "I cleaned out the storage room off the kitchen and set up the beds in there so everyone one had a place to sleep, I figured it was best to keep the pack together until this mess is solved."

"That," he raised his eyebrows, "Is a great idea, I just can't believe that you got them all to agree to it," he scoffed lightly.

"No one argued," She shrugged a bit, "Derek that is what you need to learn, if you act out of love, they know it and they will respond to it much better that if you are just barking orders," She giggled at the baby and Derek just nodded as he stood. Walking over he kissed her head, "Thanks," he murmured before stiffly grabbing a pair of sweat pants and a towel, "I need a shower, I smell like sewer and blood, but after I will make everyone breakfast okay." She smiled again and Derek felt electricity pass through his body, _Bad idea, bad idea, BAD IDEA_ , he chanted like a mantra in his head as he showered and changed. Just as he was slipping into his clothes, he heard loud screams from downstairs. Hearing Lydia run past the bathroom, he followed quickly, knowing that Erica was yelling but unclear as to why or if she was a threat.

When he got to the kitchen he smelled blood and saw that Erica had Allison by the throat pressed against the kitchen wall, her hand bleeding where she had ripped out her IV. Scott was in beta form front of her growling for her to unhand his girlfriend and Lydia was talking calmly while she bounced Jacob who was scared and crying at all of the chaos.

Derek let loose an Alpha roar that had Erica dropping Allison and cowering in front of him, hell even Scott ducked his head and backed down, "Stop it, all of you," he crossed to Lydia and gently took the squalling baby who quieted down quickly once Derek was holding him, "If you have a problem, we will talk it out, but Erica, Scott, no more attacks. We have enough people who want us dead, we don't need to help them out right now. Understood," he fixed Erica with a stare and when the girl didn't meet his eyes, Lydia crossed to her and took her hand, after a moment the blonde relaxed a bit and let Lydia lead her to the couch in the living room. The redhead and the blonde wolf took the couch and Derek sat in the chair opposite them by the fireplace, Lydia never let go of Erica's hand, "Okay Erica we will talk about what happened later, but right now I need to know, how do you feel? Are you in any pain?" Lydia asked concerned.

Erica gives the other girl a confused look, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Lydia tilts her head, "because you're pack and that is what we do, we take care of each other," she squeezes the other girl's hand again when the young wolf starts to cry, "Am I?" Erica's voice cracks.

"What?" Derek leans forward a bit, still rubbing Jacob's back as the baby nuzzled again the Alpha.

"Pack. I mean Boyd and I left you and we, we were so mean and I didn't think you would even look for us because we abandoned you. I mean, yeah, you kinda sucked at being in charge sometimes, but you still saved us from our issues. You made the seizures stop, you saved me and I just took off. I convinced Boyd to go too. He didn't want to leave but he thought that I shouldn't go alone and I took advantage of that," timidly pushing her hair behind her ear she finally looks up, "So am I still pack? I would understand if," Derek cut off her sobbing rambles, "Erica of course you are," holding the shaking girl's eyes he answered softly, "We are going to talk about you leaving once we are past all of this but I turned you. You are my responsibility and while you may have given up on the pack, I never give up on you and Boyd. Of course I looked for you."

 

"You saved us. Again," She swallowed her tears as Lydia hugged her. "Thanks Lydia." She mumbled into the redhead's shoulder, "I know you have me a bath and washed all of that crap out of my hair. I really appreciate it because it was really gross," Lydia chuckled as Erica continued to hiccough cry into her shoulder, "You would do the same for me," The redhead awkwardly assured as she patted Erica's back and Derek just looked slightly out of his element and perplexed at the conversation.

After a few minutes of Erica trying to calm down and Derek's extremely uncomfortable face at the crying and the hugging, Lydia asked, "Erica, can you tell us what happened?"

Breathing into Lydia's shoulder for a moment, Erica allowed herself to take strength from the other girl. Breathing a centering breath, she shakily began,"Um, uh, well we left the house and we went after the howling that we heard in the preserve. It, oh God Derek you were right, it was the Argents. They tricked us with a damn MP3 and Allison shot us, like a lot,"scowling towards the kitchen, Erica's heart rate increased, "once we were too weak to fight back they took us captive. We came to chained up in the basement in Gerard's little torture room. They beat and electrocuted us, then Stiles got thrown in with us and Gerard beat him up and tortured us a little more. Eventually we got free and then in the woods the Alpha pack showed up and surrounded us. We were not much of a fight. I mean I thought I was a badass but I couldn't even hurt them, they just tossed me around like doll. They hung us up and tortured us for what seemed like a life time."As she told her story, Derek watched her eyes become hollow as she tried to give a neutral account of the trauma she has survived over the last few days. He felt guilt crawling up his spine as he watched the girl still leaning on Lydia for strength.

Running a calming hand through Erica's hair, Lydia gently asked, "Did they ask anything or say anything?"

Nodding, Erica continued with a shaky voice, "Um, they wanted to know about the pack members; who was part of the pack and our hierarchy." Tilting her head, trying to focus the memories, she continued, "They asked about Peter a lot, but we didn't tell them anything. That pissed them off and they just kept beating us." Looking toward the room that Boyd was still sleeping in, she shuttered, "My God, they went after Boyd so much worse than me. it was because of his size I think, it was like because he is so big they wanted to hurt him more." Shaking her head of the particularly violent memories, she looked back at Derek, "That bitch was the worst," she wrapped her arms around herself, "she just liked to watch us bleed." 

"Bitch? One of them was female?" Derek asked. Erica nodded, "Yeah, she was about my size, dark hair, had a kind of dominatrix thing happening. She seemed to be the one calling the shots, ordering the others around."

Derek nodded as he process the information, looking to Lydia he said, "The three we killed we all male," she nodded, "Was there more than one female?"

"No, just her and four males. Like I said though, she was in charge." Quirking her head Erica added, "I think that she had a sister though because she referred to one of the other Alpha's as her brother- in- law. She said something about how he married in but I was so out of it that it didn't make much sense. They didn't really talk much though, only to ask us about the pack and beat us when we didn't answer."

Rubbing her back again, Lydia said, "You were very brave Erica," Pushing the girl's hair back she added, "most people would not have survived what you did in that last few days."

"Thanks for saying that, but I don't feel anything but tired and confused and scared." After a moment she added, "And why the fuck is Allison here?" She threw a look of disdain towards the kitchen where the rest of the pack was listening to this conversation. 

"Um, she came to talk to Scott, "shooting a cautious look to Derek, she continued, "he had a rough day dealing with everything yesterday and he needed her," Lydia answer gently.

"That bitch shot me seven times and kidnapped me and Boyd. I don't really care if Scott needs his dick sucked, I don't want to see her," Locking eyes with Derek, she continued in an icy tone, "neither of them are pack, and I do not trust her." 

"Actually," Derek began before standing and announcing, "All of you eavesdropping from the kitchen, just come in here, we need to have a pack meeting," he returned to his seat and watched as the rest of the pack walked into the room. A few having the decency to look embarrassed at being called out on ease dropping, Jackson not being one of them. Derek didn't even spare a glance at Peter who had somehow arrived during his conversation with Erica. Isaac was thoughtful enough to bring the medical bag in with him and handle it to Lydia before settling on the floor in front of her feet, his anxiety rolling off of him in waves. Whispering her thanks, Lydia opens the bag and pulls out the syringes that Deaton had left, giving the antibiotic and pain meds to Erica both to help her heal and to keep her calm in the meeting with Allison and Scott. Lydia was a little shocked when the girl leaned into her as the medication started to kick in, resting her head on Lydia's shoulder as Derek started talking.

"Okay, one, I would like to thank you all for your help in the rescue effort of Boyd and Erica. You acted like a real pack and you took care of one another," looking around, he made eye contact with each of them, "when three of us were down, you followed Lydia's orders and that is awesome," Derek began, everyone nodding along, "We are all grateful to have everyone back together and I for one want it to stay that way. We are stronger as a pack. Yesterday proved that, and I think that we need to stay a pack, not just for the current crisis but for the long run." He stated clearly, looking to Scott. After a moment's consideration, Scott nodded, "I agree, I know that I have fought being in your pack because honestly I don't always agree with the choices that you make, but a lot of my issues come from the way I was turned and that has nothing to do with you. That is on Peter," He spared a withering glare at the older beta who was settled in the corner of the room slightly away from the pack. "I don't know what is going to happen now, I killed an Alpha, does that mean that I am going to be an Alpha now?"

"Well," Derek sighed, "Not necessarily. Typically, you become an Alpha if you kill an Alpha and claim the title but you have to have some connection to that power. I took the Alpha power from Peter because it was supposed to be mine—my father was the Alpha until he died and then my sister was the Alpha until Peter killed her and took it, which he could do because he is a Hale and has a legitimate connection to the Hale power. You are a bitten wolf and you have no connection to this Alpha, if you were to kill me then you could claim my power because you are in my pack, but the only way you can typically take power from an Alpha that you are not connected to by blood or bite is if the power is freely handed over—like if an Alpha doesn't have an heir or if the pack of that Alpha swears fealty to you. Because the Alpha that you killed was in the Alpha pack, he had no pack so therefore no one to vote you in so to speak. That said, you will get stronger, you don't have to be an Alpha, you aren't responsible for a pack and therefore cannot feed off of their power like an Alpha can, but you will be stronger than a typical Beta now."

Scott processed that before he continued, "I think that you are right, we need to be a pack. All of us work better and get more accomplished when we work together." Everyone else nodded their agreement, "But that is going to have to include Allison. She is a part of my life and I am not walking away from her." At that Erica sat up and several others scoffed, "What the hell Scott! Do you know what she did to Boyd and me?"

Scott looked down, trying to find the right words and he squeezed Allison's hand, "Erica, Allison made a lot of mistakes," he began only to be cut off by Erica's irate voice, "Mistakes! Scott a mistake is losing your phone or ruining your favorite shirt, she lured us into the woods, shot us both with over half a dozen arrows and then helped her father and grandfather drag us down to her basement of horrors and electrocute us and torture us for hours. Scott you were down there in that tunnel, you saw the damage done to us that hadn't healed yet, don't delude yourself into thinking that all of it came from the Alpha pack, because trust me, your girlfriend there gave just as good as they did."

"Erica, I" Allison tried to interject, "Oh shut up Allison," the blonde rolled her eyes, "you lost the right to speak to me when I begged you for Boyd's life and you answered it by putting another arrow through his kidney." The brunette flushed with shame looked down, "And Scott, what the fuck is wrong with you that you are okay with this? I mean not only did she try to kill Boyd and I, your supposed pack mates, she kidnapped Stiles and they beat the hell out of him too! Do you have any idea how I felt in that basement? Thinking that I was going have to watch Boyd and Stiles die? What kind of sick sadist are you that you can call us your pack, that you can call Stiles your best friend, but you can still fuck her like there is nothing wrong with it?" Erica was in tears by the end of her speech, everyone looking around a bit awkward because they knew that she was right and that they could not ignore the horrible things that Allison had done.

Scott had tears in his eyes when he looked at Stiles, who had not filled his best friend in on that little detail of his disappearance from the field, choosing instead to let his friend think that it was the other team, "Stiles?"

"Look man, we all survived and you didn't need any more bullshit to deal with."

Allison sobbed beside him, "I didn't know. I didn't know that they were going to take Stiles until I saw him in the basement, that was Gerard. I was just so messed up from my mom's death and I was so mad at Derek because I blamed him that I let Gerard convince me to go after the whole pack. Erica," The brunette sought out the blonde's angry eyes, "I know that you will not believe me, but I am so truly sorry for what I did to you and Boyd, for what I tried to do to Jackson. I just, I was so lost and I let him convince me," she choked on her own words.

"That's what Kate said, when I asked why she killed my family," Derek whispered from where he was standing, swaying slightly with Jacob, "She put it on Gerard and his mind games, but Allison, you need to know that your mom attacked me. I was trying to save Scott and I defended myself. She had nearly poisoned him to death when I broke in to save him and she attacked me, I bit her in the process of the fight. Your father killed her because he didn't want her to be one of us, she didn't have to die, she chose to."

"She didn't really have a choice," Allison tried to defend only to be cut off by Stiles of all people, "No Allison, _my mom did have a choice_ ," He said in a bitter tone that made his normally humorous voice sound foreign to everyone, "because guess what, you can't chose to live a normal life with breast cancer; you get better or you die and either way you are never the same. My mom fought for three years and she never gave up but she still died and guess what, it didn't give me an excuse to go off and murder my friends. Your mother could have lived as a werewolf, she just didn't want to and for you to deny that is an insult to my mom and Erica's mother and to Boyd's father and to Jackson's biological parents and to Isaac's mom because all of our parents _really_ didn't have a choice. They were killed by cars or disease or a random robbery in a grocery store, your mom was killed by a knife and bigotry and if you want to be mad at someone, look at the person on the other end of it." With that Stiles marched out of the room, tears flowing freely down his face. Scott moved to stand, only to be stopped by Erica who pushed his shoulder back down, "I'll go, you tend to the genocide princess here." She sneered, joining Stiles in the backyard where she just hugged him closely for a long time until they had both finished crying.

Inside, Derek cleared his throat, "Look Scott, I understand that you love Allison and you want to keep her safe, but she has personally tried to kill most of us, so you are going to have to understand that everyone is going to need a little time and she is going to have to earn our trust back." Scott nodded and led Allison out of the house by the hand, everyone understanding that they needed to talk about a lot of things and they needed to do it in private. Lydia moved to the window after a while to check on Erica and Stiles, who were sitting on the ground under a tree—not the Scallison tree as Lydia called it—and they were talking about their moms and the little things that they missed about them. After a while Erica crinkled her brow and looked at Stiles, "Hey, where did that baby come from? I mean I wasn't gone that long right?"

Stiles laughed and launched into the story of the last few days. Watching them, Lydia knew that they were not okay yet, but they all felt like they were on their way to getting there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please review!


	10. Check up and Check out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, please review!

The rest of the week pasted in relative calm. Erica and Boyd continued to heal, Boyd a bit more slowly due to his injuries being more severe but they are healing which makes everyone sleep a little better at night. The whole pack was at the house everyday but Stiles, Scott and Jackson all had to make appearances at home each day and Scott was spending as much time as possible with Allison who was still not too welcome at the "pack pad" as Stiles had dubbed it. Lydia had gone to school on Monday and arranged to take all of her exams early after explaining to the principal that she already knew all of the material and she ready needed to be at home with her new baby to insure both her "recovery" and his health. The principal sputtered and stared at her holding Jacob affectionately, his mouth hanging open for a few moments before agreeing to contact her teachers and arrange for her to complete the semester a month early, so currently she did not have to return to school until after Christmas break. As Lydia walked out of the school, carrying Jacob in his carrier she felt accomplished. Opening the door with a patented Lydia Martin hair flip, she turned more than a few heads in the student body as she marched to the car, never stopping to explain the baby. As Lydia was locking in Jacob's car seat she was shocked to hear Erica behind her, "Hey Lydia, where are you going?" The blonde asked a bit timidly.

"I just needed to arrange some stuff with Principal James now baby Jake and I are heading to see Dr. Deaton for his one week checkup." Lydia explained with a smile. Erica nodded and stood there a bit reluctantly. Over the past few days Erica and Lydia had grown closer but the blonde continued to be a bit awkward and shy around Lydia, as if she never quiet knew her role with Lydia, offering the wolf a smile, Lydia continued, "How about you?"

"Well, I just have study hall and gym left and I can't participate in gym right now so, I am pretty much just hanging out in the library," the girl fiddled with her jacket. Nodding Lydia opened her door to climb into the car, "Well, if you want, you can come with us, maybe we can go shopping afterward?" Making eye contact for the first time Erica smiled, "Really? You don't mind?"

"Of course not, get in," she gestured to the passenger door. Erica climbed in quickly and the two girls made their way to the vet's office. Type A personality that she is Lydia had called ahead and made sure that Dr. Deaton knew that they were coming so the office was cleared out of any humans who could ask questions that she didn't want to answer—like why she was bringing her one week old to a vet instead of a pediatrician. And over the past week she had begin to think of him as hers, she had not used the "s" word yet, calling him her son now was too scary and set her up for too big of a loss if they did find his birth family or if some sad werewolf mommy showed up to reclaim him, but every time that Lydia looked into his wide innocent eyes, she fell just a little more in love with the tiny charmer.

Speaking of charmers, she did not expect to see Derek Hale looming when she walked into the vet's office, he shot Erica a glare that said they would talk later about her ducking out of school but he followed Lydia into the exam room without a word. Lydia tried to deny the flutter of her heart when she saw him, she knew that it was futile and that he had heard her heart's reaction to him, but she hope that he would write it off as shock. Spending everyday with the mercurial Alpha had made Lydia's opinion of him change—well that wasn't completely true, she didn't really have an opinion on him before all of this had blown up. Before the night that she resurrected Peter she had only had a few encounters with Derek and they all left her with the same impression— _Damn he's hot but cranky; cranky and hot and completely out of her league._ However there was always a heavy air of sadness and tension surrounding Derek that nearly overwhelmed everything else about him, however over the last week she had seen the darkness ebb at moments.

Those moments were scarce but they were becoming more common—the moments when he tussled with Boyd in the backyard, or made dinner for everyone while Erica, Boyd, Isaac and whoever else had stopped by did homework or played Halo in the living room. The calmest Lydia ever saw Derek however was late at night when he held Jacob while the baby slept on his chest, over his heart or when he watched Lydia feeding the baby, both of them half asleep while the baby ate. Lydia had let Derek's moments of calm infect her, finding herself sharing smiles with him during these times, finding reasons to touch him or brush against him—little things like brushing lint from his shirt or rubbing his shoulder in thanks. Lydia had to admit, she was drawn to him in a way that she had never been drawn to anyone else. Typically people were pulled into her orbit; they needed something from her so they followed her around like baby ducks. Derek was not a baby duck. In fact, he was not like anyone that she had ever met and so she was intrigued. He broke her out of her thoughts by reaching over to take the carrier from her, "Hi little guy," he smiled at Jacob, "You ready to get checked out?"

Lydia smiled at Dr. Deaton as Derek lifted the baby from the carrier, "So doc, what are you checking today anyway?" Lydia asked, trying not to sound like a scared mom. The kindly vet smiled back at her, his face showed that he was reading much more into the scene than they may want him too as he glanced between the Alpha and the priestess. "Well Ms. Martin, today we are going to weight and measure this little guy and then check his vitals and reflexes—just a typical check up. Have you noticed anything strange or concerning?"

"Uh, no he seems pretty normal, I mean he doesn't do much but eat and sleep," Derek offers as he hands the baby over to Dr. Deaton.

"That is good, now how is his appetite?" Deaton spares Lydia a look as he asks the question, "He eats pretty regularly, typically every two to three hours and then he usually falls asleep for a few hours after that."

"That is good, that is very good, often preemies have a hard time getting on a schedule to feed or need some convincing to eat," He explains as he conducts his exam.

"He totally doesn't need encouragement, he is always willing to let everyone know if he is hungry," Derek chuckles as he watches the baby intently, Lydia giggles her response, "Very true."

"Okay, everything here looks great, he is reactive and his development is actually a little bit ahead of where he should be as a preemie. He has gained 7 ounces and that is wonderful. Now when did his navel stump fall off?" The vet quirked an eyebrow as he continued his exam, "This morning," Lydia offered, "Is that okay?" she seemed nervous.

Smiling Dr. Deaton lifted Jacob, wrapping him back in his blanket, "It is great, perfectly normal. Lydia you are doing a wonderful job taking care of him," he gently rubs her arm as he hands to baby back. "Thank you," she whispers grateful for the complement but also a bit overwhelmed by the emotions that filled her at his words. Looking down at the baby she smiled, snuggling him close to her, "You hear that Jacob, you are growing and perfect just like I said you were." As she moved to redress the baby, Deaton looked shocked, looking to Derek he asked, "Jacob?"

Nodding awkwardly, Derek responded, "Yeah, we figured that we needed to give him a name so we decided on Jacob, after my dad." Smiling, Deaton nodded, "He would have liked that," moving to his desk, he picked up some paperwork "That is really good, and it helps with this," he hands the paperwork to Lydia. Her brow wrinkles as she reads the papers, "Um, a birth certificate?"

"Well even though he is a little _unique_ he still needs a birth certificate, just in case there are any legal questions or if you need to prove who he is, this way you can provide legal paperwork proving that he is your son and he will have a legal name and birth date for later in his life." While everything that Dr. Deaton is saying is completely logical, there is something terrifying about seeing her name beside the word 'mother'. Derek must have noticed her unease because he whispered, "Lydia, you don't have to do this, I mean if you are not okay with putting your name on that, no one will blame you."

Looking at him, Lydia lifted her hand to cup his cheek for a moment before smiling, "No, it's okay, I mean everyone already thinks he is my son, what difference does the paperwork make. He is my responsibility and this is not going to somehow change that." Reading over it, she writes her name in the appropriate space. Reviewing the form, she looks to Deaton, "Okay, so what else do we need to fill out?"

Crossing to the others, Deaton places himself on the opposite side of the table from them, laying the paperwork out on the table itself, he walks them through the forms, "Okay, this form is a declaration of birth, stating that he was born on this date, alive and in Beacon Hills. Now I went ahead and listed him as a homebirth so no one questions why he was not born in a hospital, and a midwife friend of mine is going to files these once you fill them out," they both nodded, "Now, you need to fill out the place of residence, full legal name for the baby, your birth date, and," he paused looking up at them, "well are you planning on listing a father or," the two looked at one another for a moment and Lydia asked, "Does it make a difference? I mean if I just list him as my child? It is not like we know how his biological dad is."

"Well it doesn't really affect anything unless something was to happen to you Lydia, then if there is no father listed and no family to take him, he will go into the system." At that thought her eyes widened.

"Um, I don't want that to happen but I already promised Jackson that I wouldn't put his name on anything so I guess I don't have a choice," Lydia looked a little helpless.

"Well, you could list me as the father," Derek offered.

"No," Lydia said curtly and then seeing the look of hurt that flash across his face, she continued, "I told you that my mom is a bitch and she will be on the warpath once she sobers up enough to get mad. If she pulls his birth certificate and sees you listed as his father, she will press charges and raise way to much attention. No, it is better if he is just listed as mine for now and then maybe later we can change it if things change." Lydia surmises. Derek relaxes a little bit at her explanation and nods, "Okay."

"Now one more thing, his name," Dr. Deaton points to the space, "I know that you have decided to call him Jacob, but are you going to give him a middle name and what last name are you using?"

"I guess Martin if I am not listing a father, at least my mother can't argue with that, and middle name," She looks quickly to Derek who shrugs, "I picked out his first name, that was pretty much all I had," he admits. Giggling at him Lydia is struck by an idea, "Isaac," she says.

Confused, Derek lifts his eyebrows, "What about him?"

"No the name, I want to give Jacob his name because he is practically his uncle or big brother and he has been so helpful, so what do you think, Jacob Isaac Martin?" Lydia's face is almost glowing in excitement as she proposed the name and Derek smiles, "It is perfect," he agrees. Smiling at the two as he takes the paperwork back after Lydia had filled it in and signed it, Dr. Deaton agrees, "It is a good strong name Lydia." Smiling her thanks at the man, she snuggled the baby closer.

"Thank you Dr. Deaton," she offers warmly, "And thank you for everything that you have done to help us. I am very grateful." Smiling his omniscient smile Deaton nods, "Of course, I am always here to help."

"Well, I am glad to hear that because I am about to ask for some more help. I think you know more about this priestess thing than you let on the other night and I don't blame you, I don't trust Peter and far as Jacob can throw him, but I am going to need some guidance in understanding this if I am going to understand and fulfill my role as priestess," Lydia explains her reasons for asking quickly so that he doesn't misread her intentions in asking. For his part, Deaton had already intended to help the girl; and had pulled several books on the topic, but he was impressed with her observation that Peter was a cause for reservation and that Deaton did not trust him at all. "Okay Lydia, I will help you. I pulled a few informational texts that you can start with and I will contact you once I know more okay?" He states, retrieving the books from his office he hands them to her before saying his goodbyes so that he can go into surgery for a poodle with a bad hip.

Turning to the small redhead Derek asks, "So you want to know more about this priestess thing why?"

"Derek I need to understand my role in this pack in order to be a good member of it. It is my job to protect you and Jackson and Jacob as a priestess but it is my job to protect all of them as a member of the pack and I need as much information as possible to do that." He nods, understanding that there is something that she is leaving out, crossing to her he runs his hand down her arm from her elbow to her hand, "And," he prompts.

Sighing, "And I want to know as much as possible about my abilities to negate Peter's fucking superior, smug attitude every time we need to know something. Derek he has already used my ability against me once and I will be damned if he does it again," Her eyes were intense as she answered him, grounding herself in the feel of his fingers on hers to restrain her building rage at Peter. Picking up on her anger, Jacob starts to whimper, bringing both of the adult's attention down to the baby in her arms, "Oh, Jacob baby I am so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Lydia bounced him a bit trying to calm him. Derek reached over and placed his hand on the baby's head running his thumb long his forehead, the baby quickly quieting down. "Are you going home now?" He asks.

"No, Erica and I are going to go shopping for a little while before we head home," she answered. Nodding he asks, "Yeah and why is she not at school?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"She met me in the parking lot when I was leaving the school; she only had gym and study hall left so I just took her with me." At his look of consternation, she continued, "Derek I know what it is like to come back to school and have everyone treat you differently, she just needed a break," she argued. His face was stoic for a moment, considering her words before nodding, "I get it, but she doesn't need to miss anymore school, I don't want her to fall behind," He says, his concern clear.

"Thanks Dad," Erica scoffed from the door, "Trust me the teachers are used to me missing time because of my epilepsy so they email me my assignments if I am not at school. I have all of my work caught up I just needed to get out of that building so when I smelled Lydia I found her. I didn't mean to cause problems." The blonde looked down, scared that they were going to be mad at her. Derek relented, "Okay, I understand, just don't fall behind I don't want your grades to drop. The last thing we need is some nosey school official investigating or some shit." Erica nods, "Okay, I will stop skipping and keep up my grades, I promise." Derek feels like they have at least reached a compromise and he is slightly shocked that it was so easy because Erica typically put up more of a fight. He looks to Lydia and knows that she had something to do with making this deal before he ever addressed the issue. Smirking he offers, "If you are going shopping do you want me to take Jacob home with me?"

"No," Lydia smiles, "We will take him with us just in case he gets hungry. Don't worry we will be home soon. If you want you could go ahead start dinner, I would love spaghetti," She offers.

"Oh really I can do that huh?" He chuckles and Erica crosses to where Lydia was strapping Jacob into his seat, "Yep." She pops the 'p' and Erica giggles, "I agree," she smiles playing with the baby, "Baby Jake agrees too." She explains, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Well how can I argue with baby Jake?" He smirks, bidding them goodbye and promising them spaghetti for dinner. The girls head to the mall, mostly window shopping but stopping to buy a few things for each of them and then heading to the baby stores to look at clothes and things for Jacob. As they look at teddy bears, Lydia decides to broach the subject that she had wanted to bring up for a few days, "Erica, I am going to ask you something but I don't want you to be mad or think that I am taking anyone else's side but do you think that you can ever forgive Allison for what she did. I am not saying forget, but just move past it and be able to work with her?"

Shock registers on Erica's face for a moment before she really starts to consider the question, looking down she sighs before locking eyes with Lydia, "Honestly, I don't know. Lydia, she was never my friend and a lot of that is on me, but what she did to me, to Boyd, I don't know if I can trust her again."

"Okay," Lydia nods, at Erica's 'that's it' eyebrow quirk, she continues, "I just wanted you to think about it, I am not going to try to convince you of anything." The redhead acknowledges as she continues shopping as if they were talking about nail colors.

"Thank you Lydia, for respecting my view and my issues with her. I will try to forgive her, but I will not forget what she did. I don't know if I can ever trust her again and I can't have someone I don't trust as pack." Lydia nods again, reaching over and taking Erica's hand in support as they leave the shop. Their moment of was broken by a shrill voice as they exited the store, still holding hands, Jacob tucked safely in a baby wrap against Lydia's chest, "Dear God, not only are you parading around with that thing, you are holding hands with slutty girls in public now Lydia? Did you run though the entire male population?" Mrs. Martin barked in a low voice, scoffing she added, "I guess I shouldn't complain, if you are a lesbian you can't get pregnant again."

"Look bitch," Erica started, only to have Lydia cut her off, "Erica don't. Trust me, she is not worth it." With that Lydia grabbed Erica's hand again and marched past her mother, pulling Erica along to the parking lot and after loading Jacob in his carseat she drove them the short way home in silence.

"So," Erica said awkwardly, trying to break the ill ease in the car, "That was your mom."

Nodding absently, Lydia answered, "Yeah, she wasn't too happy about Jacob. She kicked me out after disowning me."

"Oh," Erica answered, understanding from the trimmer in Lydia's voice and the pounding of her heart that Lydia was fighting tears and didn't want to talk about it. Once they arrived at the house, Lydia jumped out of the car and grabbed Jacob's carrier. Walking into the house without getting their bags or speaking she handed Jacob to a confused Isaac before running up the stairs. Getting to her room just in time, she eased the door shut and slid down it, pulling her knees to her chest and pressing her face into them before letting out her first sob.


	11. A Deal

Hearing the door open and someone running up the stairs, Derek assumed that the girls were home, however when he heard Erica and Isaac talking softly while the door upstairs slammed he became concerned. Turning the sauce on low, he walked into the living room where Erica and Isaac where talking softly, Isaac holding Jacob still in his carrier. "Anyone want to fill me in on what happened?" Derek asks.

Looking at each other before nodding, Erica began, "Um, we were just shopping and talking about stuff and we came out of the baby store and this woman, her mom, I guess, who is a total bitch came up and started in on Lydia—she called her a slut and a lesbian and she was really mean and Lydia just ran out of the mall and she couldn't even talk the whole ride home, and when we got here she just jumped out the car, handed baby Jake to Isaac and ran upstairs," Erica rambled.

Quirking his eyebrow, Derek asked, "She called her a lesbian?"

Looking at the Alpha, her exasperation clear, "That was all you got out of that whole story?"

"Um, well," He stammered, looking to Isaac for help, the Beta looked just as lost for a response, after a minute Erica just chuckled at them, "Never mind, the point is, you need to go talk to her." She surmises as she crosses her arms and fixes him a stare.  
"Why do I have to talk to her," Derek is not against the idea, he is just confused as to why he was volunteered.

"Because you're the Alpha," Erica explained as if that made any difference in this situation. Giving up or giving into her logic, Derek turned and mounted the stairs. Pausing at Lydia's door, he could hear her crying. The sound of her soft sobs caused his chest to clinch in a completely uncomfortable way. Taking a fortifying breath, he knocked on the door softly, "Derek," her voice sounded small through the door even though she was on the other side of the door, "Just go away."

"Why?" He asked.

"I just, I can't" she trailed off, "Just leave."

Trying the door, Derek was personally a little offended that she wanted to dismiss him, but more so he was worried about her because Lydia rarely showed weakness and he had been there for her last show down with her mom. Hearing her sobs increased and realizing that the door was locked Derek understood that he had two choices—kick the door down or find another way in. Seeing as how she was sitting against the door, he chose the latter. Jogging down the steps, he passed a slightly confused Erica and Isaac as he ran out of the house. When the two Betas hear the scratching sound of their Alpha climbing the back of the house and the thump of him breaking into the window of Lydia's room, they shared a smirk.

Lydia was lost in her own thoughts, trying to pin down why her mother was such a bitch and why she still let her mother's vile words get to her. She was angry and embarrassed, both at her mom's behavior—specifically in front of Erica—but also at her reaction to that behavior. This is the second time in a week that she has cried because of her mom and Lydia Martin doesn't cry! She was just as angry at herself for giving her mom that much power over her as she was at her mom for not loving her enough to try to understand this situation.

The loud thump from the window draws her head up from her knees in shock as all 6 feet 2 inches of Derek Hale stumbles gracelessly threw her window. She can't help but snicker at his disheveled appearance and look of frustration as he hauls himself up off the floor. "Smooth," she smirks, her voice rough from crying, as he crosses the room and takes a seat a few feet from her, leaning against the foot of her bed.

"Glad I could amuse you," He deadpans, stretching one leg out in front of him and resting one arm on his bent knee, his relaxed stance not giving away his discomfort at her tears. At his intense look, Lydia's face breaks and she starts to cry again, curling her body in around her knees. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks gently. Looking up at him again Lydia loses herself a bit in his intense green eyes, letting out another sob. Taking a painful breath, she unfurls her body and crawls across the floor, tucking herself against his chest. Derek is shocked at her action, shocked at the contact, but then he wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer and he presses a kiss to her hair and for a few minutes, completely caged by his body, she feels totally protected—a feeling that is nearly as rare as tears for Lydia Martin.

After crying onto his t-shirt for a few minutes, Lydia sighed, "I am so sorry, this is the second time in a week I have cried all over you," She laughed as she wiped her eyes, making no move to leave the comfort and safety she felt being cradled by his body.

"It's okay", he whispers, pushing her hair off of her face, "you have had a rough couple of weeks, I think you are due a freakout," he said calmly, rubbing his thumb gently over her shoulder. Leaning back a bit, she gives a frustrated huff.

"I don't know why I let her get to me. I mean she didn't say anything she hasn't said before really, I just," sighing again she searches for the words, "She called Jacob a thing," she leans back a bit and looks at Derek, fighting tears again, "A thing. Like he isn't even a human. He is her grandson and she called him a thing. What does that make me? I am the mother of a thing," Her hands flail in angry gestures. Taking a breath, she calms herself, trying to rationally verbalize her thoughts, "I just don't understand why she hates me so much. I mean, I have worked so hard to be perfect for her and she just doesn't see any of it. She just sees a disappointment, and I know that, I expect that, but," Looking up at him, willing him to understand, because she wasn't sure that she did completely understand, "When she looked at Erica in disgust the way she usually looks at me and then she called Jacob a thing and refused to even look at him, I just couldn't let that go," Wiping a few stray tears that had fell while she was talking, she chuckled sardonically again, "God, I must sound crazy."

Derek's face had taken on a serious and introspective look, lifting his hand, he wiped a few more tears away with his thumb. "That is the first time you have done that," he whispered, his voice thick with something Lydia couldn't describe, quirking her head she asked, "Did what?"

"You called yourself his mother. You were upset because of the way your mom treated Erica and Jacob, not because of how she treated you, and you called yourself his mother." He explained without removing his hand from her face or allowing his voice to betray any emotion he might have over her declaration.

"Well yeah I guess I did, I just, even if I am not his mother she thinks I am and she is treating him this way and," Looking down to where her hands rest in her lap before looking back up at him, she whispers, "Derek I know that I am not his mom, I get it, but I am connected to him and I feel like I am, his mother I mean." She seems almost ashamed at her admission, like she is doing something wrong.

"I understand," he whispers back, "I feel connected to him too, more so than I even feel connected to my Betas, I feel like his is my blood," he groped for the word, Lydia supplied it, "your son. You feel like he is your son, just like I feel like he is my son." Raising her hand to his face, she mirrored his action, rubbing his cheekbone in comfort.

"Yeah," Derek agree in a voice devoid of his usual broken anger. "I know that it is probably wrong and that I am setting myself up for all sorts of pain but, I just, it is like an instinct, something primal. I need to protect him. I am connected to him in a way that I haven't felt before, not even when my family was alive but that is the closest connection I have ever felt to this." 

Nodding, Lydia understood his word perfectly, "Well for the time being, let's forget the hurt that can come from this and just let him be ours. Our Jacob, our son," She giggled, "That sounds so strange but it feels right." 

Offering her a sad smile he nods, "Yeah it does." They lock eyes for a moment and Lydia can feel her body being drawn further into his, the need to kiss him becoming overwhelming. Just as she was about to close the distance between them a shrill cry from downstairs tears through the room. Dropping her forehead to his chest, Lydia groans, "He's hungry," leaning back with a soft smile, she asks, "Will you bring him up here? I don't really want to face the pack right now." Nodding Derek untangles himself from her and quickly exits the room.

As he closes the door behind him Derek takes a deep breath, both relieved for the moment to collect his thoughts and morning the moment that could have been. He knew that he shouldn't start anything with Lydia but it was like everything in his world was pushing him at her. Hearing the baby let out another, sharper wail, he jogged down the stairs to find Erica pacing with the baby, talking to him, "Come on baby Jake, just hush. Give them a few more minutes," she whispered insistently. Shaking his head and not wanting to focus on the beta's words too closely, Derek crossed the room, "Lydia said he is hungry," he says gruffly as he lifts the baby from her arms. Nodding Erica watches him walk up the stairs before turning to Isaac and Boyd who had just walked in, "We have got to get baby Jake on team Dydia too, he may be the only one that can convince them to be together."

Nodding sagely, Isaac adds, "I think he already is."

Shaking his head, Boyd walks to the room Lydia had converted for him, "I think you are both crazy," he mutters with a chuckle.

"Oh come on Boyd, you know that Lydia and Derek would be perfect for each other," Erica followed him, "I mean look at them, all that snark and sarcasm and eyelashes, they could be awesome."

"Not to mention have you seen how much happier Derek has been around her, he has been smiling—and not just when someone is hurt! That is growth." Isaac adds. Boyd just laughs and concedes, "Okay, I will say that he is a better leader when she is calling the shots."

With a little jump and a giggle Erica hugs them both, "Yeah, another member of the team." Turning to the kitchen she samples the sauce and puts on the pasta.

Derek re-enters Lydia's room to find her much as he had left her, still sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed. She had wiped the tears from her face but she still looked introspective as she stared at the floor. Looking up as he closed the door behind him she reaches for the crying baby. Derek lowered himself to his knees before lowering Jacob into her arms. Lydia blindly opens her top and snaps her front close bra open as she pulls the baby to her chest, as he latches on, still whimpering in indignation at having been kept waiting, Derek moves to stand back up.

"Wait," Lydia whispers, reaching forward and fisting her hand in his t-shirt.

"Wha-" his words are cut off by Lydia yanking him forward by his shirt and pressing her lips to his. For a moment Derek froze in shock before relaxing into the kiss and pulling her bottom lip between his teeth, worrying it before smoothing it over with his tongue. Sighing into the movement, Lydia opens her mouth, sucking his tongue into her mouth. They deepen the kiss, Derek moving forward and burying his hand in her hair pulling her closer without crushing the baby between them.

After a few minutes the two break apart, both panting for air, "Lydia, I," Derek begins but then realizes that he had no words to offer because he can't really access his brain right now.

"Stop trying to come up with reasons why this is bad. I am not asking you to commit to anything and I don't think we should start a relationship in front of the pack just yet, I just," She sighed, looking down at Jacob for a moment, fortifying herself, "You have helped me out a lot in the last week and I wanted to kiss you. Let's not read anything else into that for now okay."

For a moment Derek stared blankly at her, processing her words through his admittedly slow moving brain before nodding, "Okay, but does that mean that I can kiss you when I want to as well?"

Considering it she tilts her head before nodding, "Yeah that seems fair," Looking down at the baby again, giving him a soft smile before continuing, "Look, we are linked to each other for life through the pack and through this priestess companion thing. Now we have Jacob, our perfect little charge," she spoke to the baby, rubbing his cheek, "And our supernatural lifestyle doesn't exactly lend itself to dating so, yeah, feel free." Derek chuckles at her bizarrely logical argument to justify kissing but he still leans forward and presses his lips to hers again. Smirking as he pulls back, "I wanted to," he shrugs, "but I think that you are right about not telling the pack about anything just yet because we haven't decided what this is so, no kissing in front of them." She smiles at him and shifts Jacob to burp. Reaching for the baby, Derek says, "I'll take him, Erica started the pasta so we have a few minutes until dinner if you want to grab a shower."

"Actually," she stood, "that would be great." After a quick shower, Lydia changed into yoga pants and a tank top before joining the pack in the kitchen. Walking over to Erica, she hugs the girl, "I am so sorry about today, my mother had no right,"

Cutting off the other girl's apology, "Lydia you have nothing to apologize for, you didn't do anything wrong. I just hope you are feeling better."

Smiling she squeezes Erica's hand, "Yeah, a few minutes of crying on Derek and a little baby Jake time and I am good as new." Both girls giggled and moved to dish out plates of food. Once everyone was sitting at the table the pack fell into an easy conversation about each member's day and what was going on at school Lydia proudly updated them on Jacob's check up before adding, "We also filled out his birth certificate today."

"Really," Boyd asked, his face showing his shock.

"Yeah, Dr. Deaton figured that he would need a birth certificate just in case any questions were ever raised about him or his birth," Lydia explained as she picked the baby up out of his mobile bassinet, "So today I filled out his birth certificate. Lady and gentlemen, I would like to officially introduce you to Jacob Isaac Martin."

Isaac's head snapped up, "What?"

Smiling, Lydia nodded.

"You mean," he sputtered, "you named him after me?"

"Well you are kind of the best uncle/ big brother a kid could ever ask for, so yeah, he has your name." She explain and Isaac's eyes glazed over a bit as he stood and hugged Lydia before taking his tiny namesake, "did you hear that baby Jake, you are named after me," everyone chuckled at the beta as he baby talked to the infant.

The pack spent the next few hours doing homework and fawning over Jacob, by the time Lydia crawled into bed, she was exhausted. A few hours after she had fallen asleep however, she was awoken by Erica's distressed screams from downstairs. Jumping out of bed she bumped into Derek as the both exited their rooms in a hurry to rush down the stairs. Letting the Alpha go first—just in case this was a dangerous scream—Lydia followed Derek into the room that Erica was currently sharing with Boyd.

Isaac had actually offered to switch with Erica and let her have her own room but she had refused, saying he deserved his own room and that she didn't mind sharing with Boyd but Lydia thought that there was more to it than that. As they reached the door to the room, Lydia pushed past Derek when she saw Erica crying out, sweat matting her hair to her forehead as she struggled and sobbed in her sleep. While Derek and Boyd both stared at the blonde, trying to gage the best plan of approach, Lydia climbed on the bed with her and pulled Erica to her body. Smoothing her hair back, Lydia whispered, "Shh, it's alright, Erica you are safe."

Looking over the still sleeping, struggling blonde, Lydia made eye contact with Derek who looked a little frightened. Reaching her free hand out to him, she prompted him to walk to the bed, taking her hand and sitting down behind Erica. Rubbing her back, he whispered, "Erica, it is Derek. I promise you are safe, you are with the pack. If you can hear me please wake up." He offered, feeling rather helpless at how to comfort her. After a few moments, the she-wolf opened her eyes, taking in her place between Lydia and Derek, she took a deep breath before pulling Lydia into a hug and sobbing for a few minutes. Boyd made his way to the bed, running his large hand over the back of her head comforting her as she calmed down, surrounded by her pack, her family.

Rocking the girl slightly, Lydia knew that neither she nor Erica were going to be sleeping anytime soon so she suggested, "Erica, why don't you come up to my room? We can watch cheesy movies and have a sleepover," Erica nuzzled further into Lydia's shoulder for a moment before whispering, "Really?"

"Yeah," Lydia pulled the taller girl up from the bed, Boyd kissing her blonde head affectionately before the girls left the room. Hearing them start up the stairs, Derek turned to Boyd, "How long has she been doing this?"

Wearily Boyd ran his hand over his head, dropping heavily on his bed before looking up at his Alpha, "Um, every night since we came back." Looking warily at the now empty bed, the quiet boy continued, "Tonight was the worst, but she has been having nightmares every since then." Sighing, he continued, "Derek I'm worried. The Alphas tortured me for a long time, but I was unconscious on and off for a while and I don't know what they did to her, but, she is struggling with it. I feel like I failed her, like I should have protected her and I didn't," Derek could hear the Beta repress a sob, "She is like my little sister and I couldn't protect her Derek, not from Allison and not from the Alphas."

Derek had always seen so much of himself in Boyd, much more than in any of the others actually and now he understood why. Crossing to the bed, he sat beside Boyd, resting his hand on Boyd's shoulder, "Boyd, this is not your fault. You stayed with Erica when you could have run to protect yourself, but you chose to protect her. You stayed and helped her escape the Argents and you took the brunt of the Alpha pack's torture so that she didn't have to. You did everything you could to keep her and yourself alive and for that, you are a great brother and pack mate. Stop blaming yourself and just keep caring for her."

Taking in the Alpha's words, Boyd nodded and ran his hand over his face, subtly wiping his tears, "Thanks, I needed to hear that."

Nodding Derek added, "I am proud of you," as he stood and left Boyd to his thoughts. "Try to get some sleep okay, you have school in the morning." Closing the door behind him, he mounted the stairs, hearing the girls giggling, he opened Lydia's door, "Hey," he looked to Lydia first, silently checking in with her before looking at Erica, who looked significantly calmer, "How about I take Jacob into my room so you two can talk and watch tv or whatever without having to worry about waking him up?"

Knowing that it was his way of trying to help without being in the way, Lydia nodded, "Okay, just bring him back if he gets hungry." Nodding, Derek picked up the mobile bassinet and moved it to his room. Sinking back into his bed, he fell asleep to the sound of the girls giggling. A few hours later, Jacob woke him with his hungry cry. Moaning, Derek rolled over and looked at the baby through the mesh of the bassinet, wishing for the moment that he could have a full night's sleep without anyone crying. Jacob met his eyes and, as if he was taunting him, let out another, louder cry.

"Okay, okay," he muttered as he stood, pulling the baby to his chest and stumbling across the hall to Lydia's room. The girls were both half asleep, watching some 80's horror movie, both under the covers a bowl of popcorn between them, almost as if he smelled his mother, Jacob stopped crying the minute Derek approached the bed, lowering the baby to Lydia, who was once again wearing one of Derek's henleys, already unbuttoning it. Once Lydia had the baby, he dropped to the bed beside her, burying his face in the pillow to her right, mumbling, "Wake me up when you are done," as the girls giggled at him.

While Lydia settled back into the pillows, running her fingers over the baby's arm as she whispered to him, Erica noticed the unconscious way that Derek's thumb ran over the expose flesh of Lydia's hip where her yoga pants had slipped a bit. By the time the baby was finished, Derek was breathing steady and even with one arm thrown over Lydia's lap and the other hanging off the bed. As he snorted in his sleep, both girls looked at each other before breaking into giggles, "Oh God, that was," Erica giggle again as she searched for a word, "Adorable."

Nodding Lydia said, "Yeah, big bad Alpha."

Sighing, Erica offered, "Well I guess I should head back down stairs," her reluctance was clear in her voice.

"No, we are having a sleepover and the presence of the narcoleptic Alpha doesn't change that. Now settle in, we have another slasher flick to watch." Snuggling down into the bad, Erica locks eyes with Lydia, "Thank you, you know for tonight and for everything," chuckling she adds, "You know I have never had a sleepover before."

"Really? Well this is the best one I have been to for a while."

Smiling the girls settle down into the bed, snuggling the baby between them as Derek sleeps on beside them. Eventually they all drifted to sleep, this time nightmare free as Erica was finally comfortable and safe with the scents of her Alpha and Lydia around her. She had no idea why she felt safe because of them, but she did—they felt like family to her, like home in a way that she hadn't felt in years.


	12. Silver Wolves

The next morning Erica woke to a face full of red hair and her arms wrapped around Lydia's waist the way she used to sleep clinging to her mom when she was little after she had had a seizure. That was before her mother died, before her father buried himself so far in work that she sometimes thought that he had forgotten that he had a daughter. After she had been kidnapped by the Alpha Pack, her father hadn't even realized that she was gone. She had pretty much moved into the pack house and he never even called to check in, assuming that she "was old enough to live where she wanted to as long as he didn't have to pay for it." Sighing, Erica repressed her feelings of rejection and focused on the scent around her: Derek- spicy, earthy and powerful, he was Alpha, Lydia—milder, sweeter with a hint of ocean and milk but still an innate power and feel of protection, and then there was baby Jacob who smelled like a perfect blend of the two, the earth of Derek and the sea of Lydia. It was now that Erica realized that the baby was truly special and that these smells comforted her in a way that she hadn't felt in years. They were her family, and she would do anything to protect them.

Looking in front of her, Erica noticed the way that Derek and Lydia were curled together with the baby between them. Their legs were intertwined, one of his hands curled under the pillow and the other resting on the bare curve of Lydia's waist, her top, or Derek's shirt that she was wearing as it may be, bunched up above his hand and Lydia resting her head on one hand, the other on Derek's chest. Smiling to herself, Erica fished her cell phone off of the nightstand and eased herself out of the bed, snapping a quick picture before Derek's eyes flew open and he turned toward the sound of the phone, eyes flashing red.

"Whoa now Alpha, it is just me," Erica slid the phone in her pajama pants waist band and made like she was picking up something off the floor before moving for the door. Realizing that there was no threat, Derek relaxed and nodded, looking at the baby for a moment before addressing the Beta, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stay here all night," he yawned and made to move but Lydia just curled her fingers in his tank top to still him.

"We didn't have the heart to wake you," she smiled, chuckling softly. Sighing, still trying to fully wake up, Derek looked at Lydia and could not hide the look of—was that admiration—that crossed his face before the Beta noticed it. "Well," Erica said, suddenly feeling like she was imposing, "I am going to go start breakfast before Boyd and Isaac get up," with that she exited the room, shutting the door behind her and texting the picture to Isaac as she made her way down the stairs.

Looking at Lydia for a moment, Derek just took her in—mussed hair, pursed lips and truly beautiful even in her sleep. Hearing Jacob start to stir, Derek looked down, over the past week the baby had plumped out a bit, his little cheeks fuller and fingers fatter. His dark hair was thicker and his skin a few shades darker. His eyes were still blue but Derek still hoped that they would turn green. The most remarkable change in the baby was his scent—he smelled more and more like Lydia and Hale—the earth driven scent of wolf and the sea driven scent of priestess, it led Derek to believe that maybe there was more to the boy than just an orphan. As he reflected on the baby, the boy scrunched up his face before opening his eyes and letting out what Stiles called his warning call—the sound he made just before he started crying. Eyes flashing to Lydia, Derek gently tried to untangle himself and the baby without waking her so that he could change the boy and Lydia could get a little more sleep. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough for Jacob and the baby started screaming at the same time he tried to coax Lydia hand out of his shirt and Derek ended up nearly falling out of the bed.

Opening her eyes at the scramble, Lydia took in the scene for a moment before breaking out in the giggles, "Are you sure are a werewolf because you seem to be really uncoordinated," she continued to laugh at his indignant scowl. "I was trying not to wake you," he mumbled, still getting untangled.

"Well thank you for the effort, but I was going to have to wake up anyway, this boy is hungry," she smiles down at the fussy baby, running her finger over his face, she distracts him from his current discomfort and he stops crying for a moment. As soon as Derek lifts him however, he starts crying in earnest again, "Hey little man, why are you yelling at me, I'm just trying to help you," he defends as he quickly changes the baby's diaper.

Rolling on her back, Lydia watches Derek, amazed at how normal and comfortable this feels—waking up tangled with him, taking care of Jacob—all of this should completely freak her out but it doesn't, in fact this is the first time she had felt safe in her own skin in a long time. She finds herself smiling unconsciously at Derek as he talks to Jacob while he changes him, as the werewolf turns to her, returning her smile with one of his own Lydia is struck both by the fact that Derek never smiles and the fact that he really should more often. Who knew he had dimples? Making his way back over to her with a cleaner, yet still grumpy baby, she tilts her head and asks him, "How come you don't smile more?"

As he lowers the baby into her arms and the excited boy begins to root around, he considers her question, and he is reminded of Kate's taunt Why don't you smile more Derek? Running his fingers over the feeding baby's feet, he looks back into her eyes, "I guess, for a long time, I just forgot how," he knows it sounds like a cheesy line, but it is the truth. Reaching out her free hand, Lydia pulls Derek closer, running her thumb along his cheekbone, smiling sleepily, "I am glad you remembered." Leaning forward she kisses him gently, both of them allowing them the kiss to reassure them but knowing that it could not escalate with the child tucked between them and house full of the werewolves.

Giggling, she pulled back, pressing her forehead to his, eyes still closed, "Uh, you better get down there before Isaac starts listening in," Chuckling her looks down at the baby between them, running his finger over baby's cheek before pulling away from them, "Yeah, he is a little invested in us."

"Invested? They made up a couple name—Dydia. I think Erica is trying to convince them into t-shirts," her incredulous look makes him laugh, "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she switches the baby to the other breast, still chuckling, "But I still want to keep whatever this is, us, just between us."

Nodding and kissing her forehead before he exited and joining his conniving Betas in the kitchen for breakfast. Once the kids were fed and off to school and Lydia was sitting on the couch playing with Jacob, Derek started researching the history of Alpha companions and priestess and looking for a pairing of that type in the surrounding area. He was forming a theory about Jacob's parentage and wanted to see if it was possible. Noticing his intense focus on both the laptop rested on his knee and the old tomes Peter had dropped by, Lydia turned to watch him. After a few minutes her curiosity got the best of her so she lifted Jacob in the crook of her arm and crossed to Derek, lift the laptop, she startled him as she sat in his lap, now placing to computer on her knees.

"Whatya doin'?" She asked, looking over the pages he had open and then looking over the notes he was making, "Derek why are you tracking the history of Alpha companions and priestesses? Do you have a lead on Jacob?" Her tone sounded even, but the spike in her heartbeat and the way she cuddled the baby closer to her body made it clear that she was worried.

Sighing, he shifted her a bit so that she was facing him, "Maybe. I have been noticing Jacob's scent more and more, at first he didn't have a scent, which shouldn't be possible—everything has a scent. I didn't understand it at first, then when I saw he was a companion, I thought maybe a priestess was somehow protecting him from predators."

"But if a priestess was protecting him, why not just keep him? Why bring him to us? And Derek if you hadn't happened by the house that night, or the Alpha pack had gotten there first, or if God forbid the hunters were still hanging around he would have never been safe. That was a risky move; a desperate one."

Rubbing his hand down her arm and resting it on the baby's head, he nodded, "Lydia even if I wouldn't have shown up, you did, you were already connected to him, prepared for him before you ever saw him."

Scoffing, she smiled softly at Jacob, "I don't know about all that, I just heard him crying and woke up in the woods, again."

"You saved him and you are the reason he is still alive," he responds, meeting her eyes with determination, she acquiesces with a nod, still not completely buy in, "Anyway, he smells like us now, not just us though, like wolf and priestess."

"Because he is a companion?"

"No, companions still smell like wolves, I do, Jackson does, it is a distinct scent, but he is the perfect balance of wolf and you, priestess."

"What would cause that? I mean do children born of humans and wolves smell different?"

Tilting his head, considering her question for the first time, "I guess, when they are little. Once a wolf shifts for the first time they always smell like wolf, but until then, they are more of a blend. Hybrid children have a 50/ 50 chance of being wolves so I guess it is nature's way of protecting them."

Nodding she says, "But we already know that Jacob is a companion," She considers, continuing, "So you think that his parents are a wolf and a priestess? Like us?"

"Yeah, the thought had occurred to me. I was looking to see if there was a recording of an Alpha and companion mating nearby, if there is then maybe we can figure out where he came from, who left him." Derek finishes that sentence with a heavy tone, making it clear that he doesn't necessarily want to find Jacob's biological parents either.

"Mating? Really you use that term?" She looks at him incredulously.

"Well," He actually seems embarrassed, "That is the term the books use." He defends, understanding that this is a distraction technique to draw the conversation away from people who might want to take their baby.

"Well why we are looking at books and scientific terms, have you looked at your family tree?"

"What?"

"Derek your grandmother was a priestess, she mated with werewolf, maybe you should look for answers at home." She pecked his lips, smiling at his repulsion at the thought of his grandparents mating.

Laughing, she smiled, "Oh stop making that face, how do you think you got here?"

"Can you just not talk about my grandparents having sex?" He rests his hands on her hip, kissing her again, a bit more thoroughly, "Ever again." Leaning into him a bit, she kisses him again in apology. After a few minutes she pulls away, "Stop trying to distract me, your grandparents are a good starting point, if Jacob is the child of a priestess and a wolf that means someone possibly killed a priestess, what if that is what they were after?"

Derek tenses under her, the thought occurring to him for the first time, "It is a possibility, priestess are rare these days and they have a power that many have lost the understanding of, maybe she was doing do something or capable of something that someone wanted stopped?" He hypothesized.

"Like what though?" Lydia feels an unease settle in her belly; someone had possibly killed another like her, a priestess for an ability and Lydia was still unclear on what her abilities were or how she could use them. Derek shrugged, "I really don't know, but until we figure this out, I don't want you or Jacob going anywhere alone, do you understand?"

He holds her eyes, the command clear in his voice. A part of her wants to tell him that he doesn't get to boss her around and that she is not one of his Betas but then she notices the worry just under the surface and she relents. Nodding, she kisses him again, "Okay."

Derek can't help but think that her agreement was too easy when she continues, "Now, in case you didn't realize it, Christmas is in less than a month and you have got no decorations or anything."

Rolling his eyes, Derek feels oddly embarrassed at her revelation, "Well, I don't really celebrate Christmas."

"Like ever or just since," she leaves the 'since your family was brutally murdered' hanging between them.

"Since," he looks down, his gaze settling on the baby sleeping between them, "there is no reason to celebrate when you are alone."

"Well, you are not alone anymore Derek, and you never will be, so it is time that we start celebrating because this year you have a house full of Betas and a baby."She says in an overly chipper voice.

Meeting her eyes, he scoffs, "You are not going to let this go are you?"

"Nope," she shakes her head, red curls dancing, "And since I am not allowed to leave the house alone, you are going to come with Jacob and I to buy some Christmas decorations and start shopping for the Betas."

"Why are we shopping for the Betas?"

"Because dumbass, in case you haven't noticed, Isaac and Erica live here and Boyd is here more than not. The only members of this little rag tag group who have a family to share Christmas with are Scott and Stiles and both of them only have one parent. If we don't buy them gifts how are they going to have Christmas? You do know that Santa isn't real?"

Fixing her with a glare, "Of course, but,"

"No buts," she stands, Derek feeling her loss immediately, "Let's go, we have a few hours before Jacob needs to eat, so we can at least get some decorations and a tree."

Realizing that there was no way she was going to let him out of this, Derek sighed and stood, putting away the laptop and books while Lydia packed up Jacob. Grabbing his coat and keys, he led her to the car, putting the baby in the back. Following her directions, Derek gave a deep, weary sigh as they pulled up in front of a shopping center.

Lydia led him through some superstore to by a fake tree, saying that they are ecologically more friendly and that with a fake tree they wouldn't have to worry about one of the betas peeing on it—a joke that earned her a withering look from the Alpha and had him muttering about how dog jokes aren't funny before she flipped her hair and continued to push the cart through the aisles, stopping to admire the shiny ornaments and putting something in the cart every once in a while. As Derek returned from collecting the twinkle lights he spotted Lydia holding a shiny ornament over Jacob, the baby watching in wonder as the light reflected off of the metal and batting at it. The look of overwhelming joy on Lydia's face was enough to make Derek happy about this trip and about her dragging up old memories of Christmas and family and home that he had not wanted to look at in a long time. He was not prepared for that all consuming smile to be turned at him as she said, "Derek, aren't they perfect!" Holding the ornament up for his inspection. It took him a moment of being awestruck by the force of Lydia Martin smiling to notice that she was holding little silver wolves. In comparison to the generally gaudy stuff that surrounded them, these were delicate and intricate—each wolf a little different, some howling, one sleeping, once standing vigilant. They were perfect, and Derek just smiled and nodded, "Yeah, they are."

After paying and leaving the store, Lydia convinced him to go to the mall to get the wolf ornaments engraved. She named each of them after a pack member, saying that this or that ornament was the perfect representation of that member. He mostly nodded along with her, not totally getting it but allowing it all the same. Once she had dropped the ornaments off and gotten a time to pick them up, she grabbed Derek's hand and all but dragged the reluctant Alpha into several stores, buying presents for the pack. Derek didn't understand why Scott and Stiles each needed a leather jacket, but Lydia explained, "Silly everyone else has one, Scott and Stiles are pack, they should have the uniform."

"Your pack and you don't have one," He pointed out, cluelessly. He was completely unprepared for the smile she shot him before pressing her lips to his, "Really, you think of me that way?"

"As pack?" He raised his eyebrows, she nodded, "Of course, you always have been, before you were Scott's pack and now you are mine but yeah, you are pack. I thought you knew that."

"Well, I know that I am defacto Alpha female because of the baby but," she looked down at their linked hands, a little shy, "I am not a wolf, so I didn't know if you considered me real pack."

Kissing her forehead, he whispered, "Lydia you don't have to be a wolf to be pack anymore than you have to be blood to be family." Running her hand over the baby who was strapped to her chest currently she smiled softly, "Yeah."

Picking up some clothes for Erica and Isaac and some books for Boyd and a few other things they collected their now engraved ornaments and returned home. After getting the car unpacked, Lydia had just enough time to feed Jacob and get the tree set up before Erica and Isaac came wondering through the door from school.

"Hey, we have a Christmas tree," Isaac pointed out as if it was a shocking event, "Yeah, we do," Lydia responded, handing him a box of twinkly lights, "Now get over here and help me decorated it."

Erica and Isaac helped Lydia while Derek made dinner, they were soon joined by Boyd then Scott then Stiles and Jackson. By the time dinner was done, Lydia had decorated the whole inside of the house, the mantle and banister had garlands and everything seemed to sparkle with a hint of happiness. After dinner she handed a neatly wrapped box to each of the pack members, "Here guys, when I was little, my parents used to buy me a new ornament every year and the day that we would seat up the tree, they would let me open it like it was a present and then I would get to choose where to put it, so I thought that we could do the same thing." She looked down feeling a little awkward and exposed talking about her family. Jackson leaned over and squeezed her hand placing a chaste kiss on the back of it, knowing how hard it was for her to talk about her past, what shocked her though was Isaac standing and hugging her, "Thank you Lydia, for the gifts but," now he looked a little awkward, "well thank you for giving us Christmas. I haven't had one since my mom died."

She smiled, "Your welcome Isaac, I just thought that, we are a family now, all of us and we should share a holiday like any other family."

Each of the wolves opened their ornament, smiling at the little silver wolves with their names on them: Erica's was preening, almost smiling, Boyd's was standing strong and broad, Isaac's bowing a bit in reverence, Jackson's boastful, head tossed back, Scott's on its hind legs ready for a fight, and Derek, who didn't realize she had gotten him one until she handed him the box, standing larger and more vigilant, as if watching over the rest. Stiles was shocked when she slipped one into his hand as well, opening it he let out a full belly laugh- it was a silver batman symbol with his name on it. Showing it to Erica, she started to giggle and then everyone else joined in. As the family moved to place their ornaments, laughing and jostling over pride of place, Lydia smiled on thinking that for the moment they were all safe and happy. What none of them knew though was that they were being watched by cold, cruel blue eyes, that sought only to hurt the new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!


	13. Today, just get through today

Over the next few weeks Lydia dedicated most of her days to studying everything that she could get her hands on about Celtic mythology, Cerridwen, the daughters of Cerridwen and working on her powers with Deaton after hours and between appointments and taking care of Jacob. So far she had discovered that she could influence the natural world in little ways, conducting heat, calling mist and calling the wolves. She assumed this was why she was so drawn to helping Erica when she had nightmares or her need to comfort Isaac when he got that pained look of memories in his eyes. As she lay in bed, feeding Jacob she felt Derek's hand slide over her thigh, resting just inside her knee, his thumb rubbing a senseless pattern. Looking down she smiled at his sleepy eyes, "Did we wake you?" she whispered, her contentment ringing clear in her voice.

"No," he lied, offering her a hazy grin.

"Sure," she giggle, looking down at Jacob again.

"I love watching you with him," Derek confessed. Lydia had found that Derek was more talkative late at night when it was just the three of them. He was calmer and less guarded and Lydia decided that it was her absolute favorite time of day—here in the darkness with her boys.

"Yeah?" She smiled, "I love being with him," looking to Derek she brought her hand down to run her thumb along his brow, "With both of you. I don't think I have ever felt as relaxed as I do when it is just the three of us."

Turning his head he kissed the inside of her wrist, "Me too."

Sitting in silence for a few minutes, Lydia asked, "Derek, the full moon is tomorrow," she hesitated.

"Yeah," he prodded gently, not sure about where this was heading.

"What does that mean for us?"

"What do you mean? The pack will shift like every full moon," with a sigh he continued, "Honestly I am a little worried about Erica and Boyd, they didn't have much control before and I chained them up their first few full moons but I am reluctant to do that after what the Alpha pack did to them. I think that they may have even more control issues now because of what happened and I have no idea about Jackson."

Nodding as she processed, she asked, "What about Isaac and Scott?"

"Well they both have much better control, Scott has broken out of his restraints both time he has been chained up but he never hurt anyone. Allison is his anchor and he can focus the instincts. Isaac is pretty good at it too," he added, "I need to talk with Scott though about this moon because with his added power boost from the Alpha he killed and his unstable feeling about that I am worried that this may be his most difficult moon yet. Add in the fact that it is a blue moon and I know that it is going to be a rough night."

Nodding as she shifted the baby, Lydia softly asked, "what about Jacob, what does the moon mean for him?"

Reaching his hand up and rubbing the baby's head while he ate, Derek sighed, "He won't shift, not yet. Most born wolves don't shift until puberty but he will be affected by the moon. He may be crankier or uncomfortable. Even before you can shift you feel the power of the moon, the power of the wolf. Your senses are stronger that of a human's all the time, but during the moon everything is more intense."

Nodding she quietly admitted, "I just don't want him to be upset by anything."

"I know," he smiled gently, reaching up to push her hair back out of her face, "that's because you're his mother and your instinct is to protect him, but he will be okay. It is just his body preparing him to shift one day. If he is used to the pull of the moon then the shift is easier when it happens, otherwise it is much more traumatic. That is why bitten wolves have such a hard time on their first couple of moons."

"Thank you, for calling me his mother" her voice sounded oddly small.

"Lydia, that is what you are, you know that." He reassured her.

Nodding she met his eyes, "Okay," she said, her voice now resolute, "Are you going to be with us for his first full moon?"

"No," he answered his regret clear, "I need to be with the others, this is going to be a hard moon for them and I think they are going to need me more. But I will talk to Stiles and see if he will stay with you," looking down before meeting her eyes he admitted, "I don't want you to be alone." Smiling at him she leaned down and kissed him gently without disturbing the baby.

"Thank you," she whispered before continuing, "I think we should have a pack meeting tomorrow," looking to the clock she chuckled, "I guess today and discuss it so no one is blindsided."

"That is a good idea," he nods, taking the now sleeping baby and settling on the bed as Lydia runs to the bathroom before crawling back into bed. The two of them curl into each other, both wrapping around Jacob like a protective cocoon as they fall back to sleep.

By the time Derek and Lydia wake up in the morning Isaac has already texted the pack that didn't live with them and started breakfast so that by the time Lydia ambled down the stairs still wearing yoga pants and Derek's henly—her new favorite shirts to wear because they were easy to breastfeed in—she found the entire pack crowded around the table chatting or fluttering around the kitchen cooking what looked like a feast.

Looking a bit confused but used to all of them randomly showing up, she yawned a good morning and made her way to the orange juice, taking a few gulps, she asked, "what are you all doing here?"

"Isaac said there is a pack meeting" Stiles mumbled around his toast, Scott nodded, swallowing his toast before confirming, "He sent us a text."

Looking at Isaac she quirked an eyebrow which he returned with an innocent smile, "Oh he did? Well good because I think Derek wants to talk to everyone about the full moon tonight." She said as she grabbed a plate and waited for the next batch of eggs.

Jackson grabbed a stake of pancakes and asked, "Speaking of, where is our fearless leader Lyd?"

"Shower," she answered absently looking up to see several very intrigued glances, "Oh shut up he is in the shower not in a Vegas strip club stop trying to make everything into more than it is, people shower, it is normal." As she rambled she wondered just when, exactly, she had turned into Stiles.

"Mmmhum," Erica muttered around her coffee, "It is normal, showering after sharing a bed with an available person of the opposite sex." She stage whispered to Stiles who grinned back, "I have heard that this is a thing that people and werewolves alike do." They clinked their coffee cups together at Lydia's glare.

"Oh shut up there is nothing weird going on here, in fact there is nothing at all going on. Now the two of you may want to consider that I am running on less sleep than normal and I can't drink coffee so I could probably get away with murdering you both and burying out in the back yard where you can spend eternity listening to Scott and Allison screwing on your grave," she gritted out to the slight shock of the others who met her mini rant with wide eyed silence.

Quirking his head, Stiles asked, "Why can't you have coffee?"

Lydia's grunt of frustration was cut off by Derek answering from the door, "Because it is bad for Jacob," causing the pack to look up at him as he walked casually into the room wearing jeans and no shirt, still drying his hair with a towel with one hand and carrying Jacob in the crook of his arm with the other, "So leave her alone before I let her kill you," he growled at the pack before turning to Lydia, "I think he wants you," he slips the newly changed, yet fussy baby into Lydia's reaching arms.

"Sorry, I didn't know he was up," She looks at the insistent baby and she starts unbuttoning her top.

"I think he just woke up when I got back in there, I changed him but it is time for him to eat," she nodded but neither of them noticed the intent stares of their friends.

"Oh booby time," Stiles chirped, earning him a glare from Erica and a growl from Derek before Lydia spun on her heels back at the boy she fixed him with a death glare and smacking him in the back of the head before grunting, "Moron!" and walking out of the room to grab a blanket from the living room to cover her shoulder and chest with and to give her a moment to calm down. As she re- entered the room, everyone was back to laughing and joking about school and Mr. Harris' hatred of Stiles.

As she fed the baby and ate her breakfast she found herself watching Derek who was now wearing a shirt; more and more he was relaxing around the pack. Scott had brought a balancing agent to the pack; with Scott there, Derek worried less for some reason. Lydia believed it was because Scott was more balanced as a person than the others and because Derek wasn't directly responsible for Scott being a werewolf and therefore he was less responsible for his choices. Scott was like a little brother to Derek—independent, self serving and a pain in the ass, but he was still family.

Erica, Boyd and Isaac were each broken in some way and Derek had made them into wolves, in essence they were his children and he was responsible for any and everything that happened to them and because of them. Lydia knew that he carried a lot of guilt over the Alpha pack kidnapping them and the fallout from that as well as the changes to their personal and family lives. What she knew he didn't understand was that their lives had been enriched by the pack as well—they now had friends and a family that loved them instead of neglected them. They weren't perfect, but they were a pack and they were becoming a family.

After breakfast everyone regrouped into the living room, lounging on the couches and chairs, Isaac and Stiles on the floor as Derek addressed them. "So, the full moon is tonight and I think that this one is going to be unusually difficult," he began.

"Like they are going to want to kill us more kind of difficult?" Stiles quipped, earning him a glare from Derek.

"Like it is the first moon we have all been together, it is the first moon after the attack of the Alpha pack which has changed some things and it is a blue moon." Derek responds already weary with this conversation.

"Wait, what is a blue moon exactly?" Jackson asks, unclear on why it matters.

"It is when there are two full moons in the same month right?" Erica answers, looking to Derek for conformation. He nods, "Yeah, but because it means that there are two full moons in a month it can be very rough on us because it means that our bodies have to go through the pull of the moon twice. It also tends to strengthen the pull because it is a lunar event. When there is an eclipse or meteor shower we are also affected." He explains.

"Wait, the pull is stronger because of the moon," Lydia clarifies, her head tilting in a way that everyone has come to know as her processing face, "So does that mean that you all are stronger in wolf form during the blue moon?"

"Yes, we are closer to our baser instincts and we have less control, Lydia what are you getting at?" Derek asks.

"The Alpha pack, if you are stronger so are they. Derek you can't restrain the pack, you all need to be as strong as possible." She states, causing everyone in the room to turn and look at each other a bit confused and wary.

"Lydia, they are not going to be able to control the shift or the instinct to kill tonight, I cannot be responsible for one of them hurting a human," He begins only to be cut off.

"I think I can set up a mystical barrier along the reserve, it will keep all of you in the woods and away from town and honestly there shouldn't be any humans out in the woods this time of year it is freezing."

"It is still a risk," He warns only to again be cut off by Stiles, "Actually I can steal the signs from my Dad's office that they post when there are bear sightings to keep people out of the woods, we can post them today and like Lydia said, I doubt anyone is going to be camping it is freezing."

"Well I guess that is a safe possibility but how does this help with the Alpha pack?" He clearly doesn't like being lost.

"Well there are only two of them left and unless they have been recruiting, which I doubt because you would have heard about any big shifts in the packs on the West Coast," Derek takes a moment to be shocked that she knows that he has been monitoring the packs n the West Coast for months, "So they are plotting. They will think that you will restrain the Betas because it is what you have done in the past and that would leave you alone—weak and venerable. That is how they want you, they haven't attack yet because you are never alone and the last time you went against them you took out two on your own and your Beta took out another one; that is contrary to their belief system. Now they know that you are strong so they have waited until you will be at your weakest—fighting your instincts and trying to restrain your Betas, once the others are chained up they will move in for the kill using the fact that they are older, stronger and amped up on the moon. It is what I would do if I were trying to take you out."

For a moment everyone stares at her, "I always knew you were an evil genius," Stiles whispers in awe causing Lydia to chuckle.

Peter, who had just arrived—again no one invited him and yet here he was—"Or an Alpha," he smirks.

"Oh good, Uncle Bad Touch decided to join us," Stiles deadpans as everyone else rolls their eyes.

"Moving along, I agree with Lydia," Erica pipes up, "What do you need to create this barrier?"

"I need to go talk to Deaton to make sure I have everything so how about Stiles you go grab the signs and Derek and I will go to Deaton's office, we all meet at the reserve in an hour?" Everyone nods and starts to head out, as Lydia mounts the stairs to change and dress Jacob and herself and pack his bag for the day Derek remains downstairs with Peter. As he moves to straighten up the room, Peter pipes up, "So things are going well with our little priestess I see?"

Rolling his eyes, Derek sighs, "Peter, as usual, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh, I think you do, or at least you will. She smells like you, you know. If I didn't know better I would think that you had mated her," Peter's taunting voice was cut off by Derek's low growl, his eyes flashing red, "Oh stop it now, no need to get huffy, she is a beautiful young woman, there is no shame in,"

"Peter," Derek ground out, "if you value your health stop speaking of Lydia as if she is a thing. She deserves more respect than that particularly from you," he spit, his disdain clear.

"Oh Derek put your fangs away, I know yours are bigger. It is interesting though how your first instinct is to protect her honor, just think what the other Alpha's would do if they knew what she really was, the power she could weld—why even I shudder to think," when Derek let out another growl and upstairs Jacob lets out a wail drawing the Alpha's attention upwards, "Don't let me keep you, not when your son is calling." Peter tossed his hands in the air in a sign of surrender.

"My," Derek started to deny that he was the child's father—words that he had only ever admitted to Lydia- only to have his uncle cut him off again, "I know where he came from but anyone who takes a whiff of him will know that he is the child of you and the priestess. Really Derek don't tell me you haven't noticed?" With that Peter exited the house in his usually air of superiority. His words hit Derek and it occurred to him that he had never really noticed that Jacob smelled like he and Lydia, he always thought that the child smelled like Lydia and wolf and something that he hadn't been able to place.

Now as he mounted the stairs and entered the room he now shared with Lydia most nights he lifted the crying baby, allowing the child to snuggle against the crook of his neck and he breathed in deep and found his own scent, not just the smell of wolf but the actual smell that was unique to him, muddled there with the scent of the redheaded priestess—the smell he couldn't name was the smell he had always associated with home. Breathing in again it finally dawned on Derek that this was what they had created: he and the high school princess and this motley band of misfits—they had created a home, something most of them had never truly had.

Lydia bounded out of the bathroom, now dressed in jeans and an off white sweater, her red curls framing her face, "Thank you for getting him," she began only to be taken completely off guard when Derek slid a hand around her waist and pulled her flush to him, kissing her deeply without crushing the baby now sleeping against his chest.

"Derek?" She raised an eyebrow, "what,"

"I just needed to," he cut her off with a grin and she responded by kissing him again before grabbing their stuff and making their way outside. As they loaded the car and left, Lydia couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. It was a cold overcast day and it felt like snow but somewhere through the hazy weather a chill passed through the priestess at the cold stare she could feel on her skin through the layers of clothing. Noticing her shiver, Derek reached across the gearshift and took her hand, "What's wrong?"

Shaking her head she sighed, "I don't know; I just feel like we are being watched."

"Watched by whom?" He glanced around, letting his werewolf senses kick in, looking for a threat.

"I don't know, but the emotion attached to it—Derek someone means us harm," she is visible shaken as they pull into Deaton's lot.

Kissing the back of her hand, Derek nods, "Let's focus on getting through today and then we will go hunting for the ghost watching us okay?"

Sighing again she pastes a false smile on her face, "Sure, today, I can do that." As they climb out of the car they both know that she is lying but they both decide to focus on the now and let the next crisis wait until tomorrow. Little do they know, the ghost in the shadows is not going to be as patient.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review, pretty, pretty please!


	14. Blood, Bindings and Blue Moons

Letting Derek carry the sleeping baby into the office, Lydia feels almost weighed down by the hidden voyeur that she seems to have gained. Her discomfort must have shown on her face because she felt Derek press his free hand to the small of her back, reassuring her that she was safe with him as they greeted Deaton.

"So, what brings you here today Lydia?" Deaton asks, his smile bright and his affection for his student clear. Sighing, Lydia focuses, needing to get her head in the game and to busy her mind with something other than her fears, "Well tonight is the blue moon and I don't think that it is safe to proceed as usual with the Betas," she avoids revealing the plan completely incase her invisible stalker is somehow listening, Deaton nods indicating that he follow her, "So I want to try that spell we discussed a few days ago." Nodding Deaton stopped her while collecting several jars and vials from the cabinets, "You don't have to worry Lydia, this space is protected, no one can hear what goes on in here and no one can enter without my invite," he reassures her, allowing both she and Derek to relax.

"Oh good because I think we are being followed," she confesses.

"Really?" Deaton make eye contact with both of them, looking to Derek he asks, "Can you sense anything?"

"No, I haven't seen or smelled anything but someone or something is getting to Lydia, I think that they are focused on her," Derek's frustration at not being in control of this situation is clear, his hand still rooted on her back.

Nodding Deaton moves to another cabinet grabbing a few more jars, "They may be working with a witch, masking their form so that you can't track them but that would not work on Lydia, she is immune to basic tricks like those."

"Is there anything that I am not immune to?" She questions, moving forward to collect the book that she would need and the tools to prepare the spell.

"Well, your power is of the natural world, you are connected to the moon and the workings of the most basic principles of how nature works. It is about balance and control, interaction and reaction. What most people call the supernatural tampers with that balance, you are immune because you are a creature of balance to simplify it—you are the pure element so you cannot be affected by tampering with a diluted form of the element. You cannot be tricked by magic but you can and are affected by the natural changes in the world."

"Like the moon?" Derek questioned, sitting Jacob's carrier on the table and watching the others with intense curiosity.

"Yes, exactly, Lydia can be influenced by the moon, the tides, shifts in the natural order of things and by her role as priestess. Most priestesses can predict weather changes and events, which is why many of them were burned as witches throughout history. Their ability to interact with the nature world is part of the reason that they needed the protection they found in the wolves," he explains.

"Now if you think that someone may be following you or may be looking to attack the pack tonight, I think that you may need a stronger spell than just the basic barrier that we discussed the other day," he turned a few pages in the old tome in front of her, reading the words, Lydia ran her fingers over the letters as she read, "A binding?"

"Yes, you can bind a protection barrier around the reserve so that the pack can run and be protected from harming anyone but they would also be protected from anyone who was not pack coming onto the property."

"Okay, how do we do this? Do we have everything we need?" Lydia starts reading the pages and checking the jars for each ingredient until she reaches the last one, "Oh," she murmurs, looking at Derek before looking to Deaton, "How heavy is this?" "I think it is completely within your ability level," he smiles softly, "But if you are uncomfortable," he begins, she shakes her head, "No I just know that this type of thing can be tricky."

"Um, what am I missing?" Derek pipes up.

"In order to complete the spell, I am going to have to bind it with my blood," she looks down again before meeting his eyes, "and yours."

"Oh," Derek says before shrugging, "Okay, how do we do this?"

"Um, it seems pretty straight forward, I will mix up the herbs and then add the blood to the mixture when we are in the woods so that it will stay stable and then I will say a short incantation and use the mixture to mark to four pillars of the property and bind the circle. The house is the mystical center of the property so I think it best to start there," she looks to Deaton for confirmation.

"Yes, I think that is best, Derek do you know where the pillars are, I know your grandmother had actual pillars built to mark the directions or mystical lines of the property if you will."

Thinking for a moment he nodded, "Yeah, I think I remember where they are, Laura and I used to hide things at each of them in scavenger hunts with my grandmother, but I never knew what they really were."

"Well let's get this mixed up, we have to meet the others soon," Lydia pushed forward, still a little worried about using blood magic. She knew that the wolves were going to be affected by the blue moon tonight and from what Deaton was saying, she may be affected somehow as well, but she also knew that blood magic often had unforeseen side effects, particularly when it used the blood of more than one person.

The spell was designed for use by a priestess and an Alpha companion, which was why it called for both her and Derek's blood, it was to bind a circle of protection around the pack, but she couldn't help but think that this seemed too easy and that there had to be some sort of backlash to it. As she mixed the herbs—myrrh, cypress ash, rosewood ash, wormwood, calamus, and lotus—herbs used for binding and protection true, but many of them were also used in practices of mystic discovery and contacting the subconscious. There was something that felt just a little bit off about all of this but Lydia allowed herself to chalk it up to her stress about the eyes she had felt on her earlier and the fact that it was Jacob's first full moon and the overwhelming knowledge that all she wanted to do tonight was hide in her bed, snuggled into Derek's chest while he held their son. She wanted to feel her pack all around her and know that they were all safe and sound and that Derek and her baby were safe and that no one was trying to hurt them. Taking her frustration out on the mortar that she was using to ground the herbs together, she finished quickly and poured to mixture into five equal containers. Hearing Derek chuckle, she looked up to see him holding Jacob, swaying slightly with the baby, "What?" she asked, eyes wide in confusion at what he found so funny.

Shaking his head as he chuckled again, he clarified, "You are doing ancient moon goddess, werewolf blood magic in color coded Tupperware, it is just funny."

"Well they are reusable and blood magic is no reason not to be environmentally responsible," she answered in her patented Lydia Martin curt tone causing him to chuckle again, "True, very true." After a moment she starts to giggle as well and then as her smile breaks, it turns into a full scale laugh, not even because it was that funny but because she needed the tension release. Packing up everything for the barrier and Jacob, they bid Deaton thanks and goodbye before heading off for the Hale house. As soon as the black Camaro was out of sight, Peter Hale emerged from the shadows of Deaton's office. Without turning to face the werewolf, Deaton crossed his arms, "She knows that something is off."

"Well my Lydia is a very smart girl, but this will work," Peter says, his voice devoid of his usual sarcasm.

"We can only hope," Deaton's tone was ominous.

"They need each other too much for this to not work," Peter all but whispered.

"Why do you care," Deaton turned to the first time facing the Beta.

"Because I owe both of them and I always pay my debts," Peter snarks before allowing the edges in his eyes to soften, "Because that boy is the only flesh and blood I have left," with that quiet admission Peter tucked his hands into his pockets and left out of the back of the building. With a deep sigh, Deaton sent up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that all of this worked out for the best because Peter Hale was right about one thing, both Derek and Lydia deserved a little good in their lives and they were going to need each other to survive the Alpha pack.

The drive to the burned out house was quiet, as they pulled up, they noticed that Stiles' jeep was already there as was Boyd's SUV. Zipping Jacob into his light blue snow suit, Lydia lifted the baby to her chest and kissed his forehead as she stood up out of the car and faced the others, "Okay, Derek and I have to mark several areas to create the barrier, while we are doing that, each of you take a few signs and make sure that it is very clear to anyone who ventures near the woods that it is unsafe to enter. Everyone nods, Isaac speaks up, "Um, Lydia, I think the others have the signs, do you want me to take baby Jake back to the house? It is getting really cold," Isaac looks down a little, not wanting to overstep his bounds.

Offering the timid beta a genuine smile, Lydia nods, "That would be great, I really want to get him out of the weather," she kisses the baby's head once more before handing him off to Isaac who quickly grabs the carseat and baby bag out of the Camaro and loads it into Boyd's car before heading back to the house. As soon as the others have cleared the direct area and Derek has taken all of Lydia's things into the house she joins him. With a sigh, she says, "Okay, you ready to start?"

"Are you?" He questions from the spot that he his kneeling on the floor, "Lydia I know something's up, you know something you are not telling me," he states without accusation.

Nodding, Lydia sighs again before meeting his eyes, "I just think that there is something more to this spell, blood magic is powerful and these herbs are binding, but they also have subconscious and ethereal affects that don't completely make sense. I just don't like the unknown," she runs her hands through her hair.

"Do you trust Deaton?" He asks.

Considering his question for a moment she tilts her head, "Honestly I don't trust anyone but you completely. However, Deaton is someone who I have found to be trustworthy. He has helped immensely with Jacob and my training."

Letting the shock of her absolute trust in him slide for the moment he continued, "Do you think he would let you or the pack get hurt?"

"No, I don't, which is why I am going to do the spell," rubbing her hands down her jeans once before walking over to Derek, threading her fingers through his hair once before kissing him to fortify herself, "Let's do this."

Joining him on the floor, Lydia took out a piece of chalk and drew a symbol on the floor, in the middle of the protection symbol, she drew the triskale symbol from his family crest and his tattoo. Quirking an eyebrow, Derek did not interrupt her, but he would be asking her about it later. As she chants in some language that Derek totally doesn't understand, he just takes her in. Even in the cold of the empty shell that used to be his home, she seems to radiate heat. As she blinds the herbs and lines the symbol, light from the holes in the roof reflect off of her hair and highlight the flecks of gold among the copper stands. Her skin flushes a warm pink as she looks up to the sky, powerful words weaving through the air as her magic crackles around her. The scent of sea salt and cinnamon and cayenne pepper flood the air, radiating from the priestess as the spell begins to take form.

Derek is drawn out of his revelry when she takes his hand suddenly. Looking down at her tiny hand cradling his, he is momentarily reminded of the first time they were in this room together—the night that she mixed their blood to resurrect Peter. It is this memory that convinces him that she is right—there is more to this blood magic than is on the tin but he is not inclined to stop it. In fact all of his instincts are growling at him to go along with this as she draws the silver blade in her left hand across his left palm. He hisses involuntarily as the blood begins to pool there. Ignoring the blade as she tries to hand it to him to open her own flesh, he instead extends one claw and opens a gash on her left palm.

Her sharp intake of breath is the only indication that she is shocked by his actions or the pain of the wound. Locking eyes they simultaneously tilt their left hands, allowing their blood to fall and combine in the center of the triskale symbol. They both seem to be in some sort of stupor—neither acting consciously but both aware of their actions as they lean in over their bleeding hands, pressing their wounded palms together, and come together in a kiss. For a moment their hearts and lungs are acting as one—working in unison to create a rhythm that is unique to them as their blood mixes and the magic grows. Suddenly a wave of mystical energy rises from the symbol on the floor and shoots out with enough force to knock the wolf and the priestess apart.

Both land on their bottoms a few feet from each other shaking their heads to clear them of the bizarre moment. Recovering first, Derek stands and helps Lydia to her feet, careful to avoid her still bleeding palm. Pulling her hand to his face, he presses a kiss just above the gash and then one just below it, "I'm sorry, I don't know why," he begins, embarrassed at his savage act of hurting her.

She cut him off with a quick kiss, "Don't be," looking at her hand, still held in his larger one, she locks her eyes with his, "Derek you never have to hide what you are from me. I know that you are not him." Derek offered her a small smile; he should have known that she would figure out why he never let her see him as a wolf, not even in partial shift. He knew a little of what Peter had done to her, scaring her and taunting her in many forms including his beta and alpha form. He also knew that Peter had savagely attacked her and he didn't want to scare the girl he was so close to—he didn't want to give her a reason to be scared of him in the way that he knew she was still scared of Peter. Kissing her forehead, her reached for a burp cloth from the top of her bag and wrapped it around her wound before lifting her bag of supplies and leading her off into the woods to the first pillar. Once they were pretty far into the woods he asked, "So was it just me or was that weird?"

Giggling she swung their joined hands between them, "Oh that was definitely weird," she giggled again, relieved when he laughed with her, "I have never felt that level of heightened awareness yet lack of control when I do magic, except," she stopped. Turning to her Derek finished her thought, "Except the night that you resurrected Peter."

Nodding she began to walk again, "Yeah, I didn't really know what was happening then, but the power was similar." With a sigh she looks at the pillar—which is actually a large, intricately carved sculpture—"I just hope this works."

"I believe it will," Derek runs a hand down her back as she sets up, clearing the plant debris for the altar at the base of the pillar for her to draw the symbols and lay out the ingredients. This time the words and actions are the same, but neither of them feels that nearly euphoric stupor from the first time in the house. As their blood mixes on the altar of the last pillar a bluish white light sends a shockwave through the woods, letting them know that the barrier is set. This also means that Lydia has to go get the car while Derek makes his way to the main road with all of their stuff because once he is inside the barrier he cannot leave unless she drops it. As she pulls the car up beside him she lowers the passenger side window, "Hey good looking you better be careful out here alone, you wouldn't want the big bad wolf to get you," she smirks at him.

"Oh really little red," he offers her his most devilish smile, "Because you seem like to one who should be scared of the big bad wolf." His eyes flash red for effect before he makes his way around the car. Lydia puts it into park and unlocking the door so that he can open it and lift her from the driver's seat. What she doesn't expect is for him to lift her off of her feet and press her against the car as his kisses her with abandon. Using his shoulders as leverage, she wraps her legs around his waist, pressing their bodies closer as she pulls at the back of his hair, taking control of the kiss. The intensity of the kiss grows quickly and Derek is sliding his hand upon the back of her shirt seeking skin contact. Lydia has found that he does this often when they make out, as if he needs to feel the heat of her skin under his own.

So far their relationship has been pretty—for lack of a better description—high school. Secret make out sessions while the pack is away and stolen kisses when no one can see. Lydia is not sure why, but they have both restrained from taking their relationship to the next level. They have never actually talked about it—sex or anything else relationship related—choosing to act on need instead of logic. As she writhes against him, Lydia wants nothing more than to lose herself in this beautiful man, but then some part of her mind reminds her that they are pressed against a car on the side of the road and that anyone could be watching. At that thought— _watching—_ a shutter runs through her and not the fun kind that usually runs through her when Derek hits that spot on her throat. Sensing her body tense, Derek pulls back, panting, and presses his forehead into her collarbone. "Sorry," his breath is hot and damp against her flushed skin, "I didn't mean to get carried away."

Kissing the top of his head, she giggles, "Trust me, you weren't the only one," letting her blood cool for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and releasing her legs to the ground, she is relieved when Derek holds onto her waist for a moment so her legs can stop shaking before she makes her way back around the car. Lydia uses the small journey to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. Yeah, they were going to have to talk about this at some point but right now she had too much on her plate. Speaking of plates, as she takes her seat on the passenger side of the car and Derek busies himself with readjusting the seat to its proper place because she had moved it up so she could drive it down here, she heard her belly growl loudly. Giggle and grateful for the distraction from talking about what had just happened, and what she had wanted to happen, she smiles rubbing her hand over her stomach, "I'm hungry."

"So I hear," Derek grins, also happy for the reprieve, "Do you want to stop for lunch on the way home?" he asks as he puts the car in gear and points them home. Shaking her head, she answers, "Do you think you could cook something at home? Jacob is going to be hungry very soon," she looks down at her chest suddenly realizing how much pressure she feels and that the baby was going to need to eat very soon.

"I am sure that I can figure something out," he answers, trying, and failing, to not look down at her chest also—which totally did not help him to cool down. Fortunately the trip was quick and they made small talk the whole way back, Lydia asking more questions about what to expect from Jacob tonight. As they made their way out of the car, Derek looked to Lydia and said, "Let's hurry, he is crying," causing her to run up the porch steps and into the house. Opening the door, she took in Isaac pacing desperately trying to calm down Jacob who was wailing in his arms. Spotting the redhead, Isaac looked a little frightened, "I changed him and rocked him but he won't stop crying, I didn't know what else to do," the boy seemed near tears as Lydia took the baby and snuggled him to her chest with one hand while slipping out of her loose white sweater to reveal a button down tank that she unbuttoned expertly as she walked into the kitchen.

Slapping the beta affectionately on the back, Derek chuckled, "Don't worry Isaac, you didn't do anything wrong. He just needed his mom," Isaac searched Derek's eyes for a moment and finding whatever it was he needed there, nodded before making his way up the stairs as Derek went to the kitchen to sort out lunch for the priestess.

Smiling at her as she sat in the bay window seat in the kitchen, Jacob nursing hungrily as she watched the world outside Derek sets to making soup and grilled cheese, "Is Isaac alright?" she asks as she shift the baby.

"Yeah, I think he was just afraid you were going to be mad or that he did something wrong," Derek answers as he chops veggies for the soup. Nodding she smiles down at Jacob, playing with his tiny fingers, "He is a great kid," she whispers.

Chuckling Derek continues adding ingredients, "Who? Isaac or Jacob?"

Looking up for the first time, she tilts her head, "Both, I guess. I was talking about Isaac, he is amazing but Jacob is pretty great too." Looking back at the baby she all but whispers, "You know, sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky."

"Huh?"

Looking up at him, his movements still with the look on her face, "Derek I was not a good person; I was a bitch to everyone I met and I didn't let anyone in. I was so mad at everyone for lying to me, but I am not sure I would have told me either. I just," she sighs, "I don't know what I did to deserve this family, these people. You are all so wonderful and I don't know how I got this lucky."

Crossing the room, he sits across from her on the seat, "Lydia you are a good person. You have taken all of this in stride and you took in Jacob and all of us without a second thought. I used to think I wasn't worthy of a family again, or a pack, and you convinced me to stop asking questions because for the first time in six years I didn't wake up every morning wondering if I would be better off dead. I don't know what I did to get this lucky, but you, you are one of the best people I have ever known and I know that you deserve all of the happiness that you can get." Smiling she runs her free hand over his face and presses a kiss to his forehead, wanting nothing more than to kiss him, but not wanting inquiring ears to over hear them until after they talk about the status of the relationship which she know she will have to save until at least tomorrow.

"Okay, I am just going to have to take your word on it for now," she smiles, leaning back against the seat, "Now how about that lunch you promised me?"

Smiling he stands and finished her lunch just minutes after Jacob finishes eating. Calling Isaac down they have a nice lunch together before everyone decides to take a nap before sunset. As darkness falls, the pack all meet at the house, "Okay, so once you are inside the barrier you cannot leave, but I also managed to make it so that only the Hale pack can enter the property so you will be safe to hunt the property tonight without worrying about any attacks." Lydia explained.

"Okay, that's great, but what about here?" Scott asked, obviously worried for Lydia and Stiles being left alone with the baby.

"Deaton and I put up every protection ward and barrier possible in this place weeks ago, we will be safe tonight and so will you all. Don't worry," Lydia assured them all, but from the way Erica and Isaac both dove into a hug with her, holding the priestess just a little too tight, it was clear that they were still worried. Hugging them back, Lydia noticed that both of them rubbed their noses in her hair, as if they were collecting her scent. She just smiles and squeezed them tighter, locking eyes with Derek before they all made into Boyd's SUV to drive to the property. Stiles mocked them about it, saying that real wolf would have run, but it was cold and they were less likely to draw attention—human or werewolf—if they drove to the property and only ran once they were protected.

After a few awkward minutes of watching out the windows once the wolves left, Lydia and Stiles settled on a pallet of blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace in the living room and watched bad horror movies and ate junk food, Jacob in his portable bassinet between them. Laughing at the cheesy gore and offering obvious fallacies in the depiction of the supernatural, they had fun. Stiles falls asleep first, Lydia following soon after. Lydia wakes up once to feed Jacob, but falls back to sleep quickly. It is only when she feels a chill pass through her clothes that Lydia opens her eyes and finds herself on the front steps of the Hale house. Confused for a moment she looks down to find herself dressed in the yoga pants and white t- shirt she stole from Derek that she had fallen asleep in. The damp chill pressing against her skin makes her think that this is not a dream; hearing a sound behind her, Lydia freezes and then turns slowly to find the red eyes and black fur and gnashing teeth of and Alpha werewolf staring back at her. Letting out a squeak all she can think is, "Oh crap, this is so not going to end well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	15. A Binding Under the Blue Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the moon rises, things get even stranger.

Chapter 15

After eating lunch with Isaac, Derek followed Lydia up the stairs to their room and changed Jacob while Lydia put on pajamas in the bathroom with the intent to take a nap. Hearing that she was still changing, he quickly stripped out of his shirt and jeans, pulling on a pair of black sweat pants that he kept in the bottom drawer of Lydia's dresser along with several other articles of clothing. Hearing the bathroom door open, he greets Lydia with a smile as she pushes her hair back, the yoga pants and his shirt that she is wear make her look even smaller but somehow even more beautiful. She returns his smile and slides into the bed, tucking herself under the thick blankets. Following her he lays on his back with Jacob snuggled against his chest, now drifting off to sleep. Lydia folds herself into Derek , tucking her head under his chin and bring her hand to rest on Jacob's back. This is what she had wanted to do all day, just lay here and rest with her boys; allowing the overwhelming feeling of calm to ease her to sleep as she memorized the smell of her baby and Derek's aftershave.

Kissing her head, he breathed in the scent of her hair; the fresh smell of jasmine and argan oil soothed his nerves about the full moon and the threats that the night held. Relaxing his muscles, Derek gave over to the warmth of the priestess and fell asleep listening to the stead hearts and breathing of Lydia and Jacob—his family.

They slept longer than either intended too and by the time they woke up it was nearly dark. Derek watched as Lydia fed Jacob, the baby fussier that normal unless one of them was holding him. He knew that he should be downstairs rallying the pack and preparing them to head off the reserve, but for some reason he just could not pull himself away from Lydia as she lovingly held the baby, her sleepiness still clear in her eyes. Sliding down the bed a bit, Derek kissed her gently but thoroughly. Not wanting to leave her, to leave them, but knowing that he has too. When he is with Lydia he doesn't have to be the leader, the Alpha, he can just relax and be. She makes him feel ways that he never thought he could—calm, free of guilt, at peace—he has never been good with words but he really doesn't think that he can verbalize, even in his in mind, what she makes him feel.

He knows that at some point they are going to have to discuss this thing between them—he dare not call it a relationship because that term somehow feels too small and not at all enough to explain his life with the young priestess. Kissing her again, he tries to express what his mind cannot articulate. This scares him for so many reasons; she is too young, he is too damaged, his uncle almost destroyed her, he has the responsibility of the pack and he doesn't want to force that on her. But they also have Jacob and they have made the choice to co-parent him. She is a priestess, his priestess, and so she will forever be a part of this world regardless of him.

Pressing a kiss to the baby's head, Derek stands and grabs a shirt, "I am really sorry that I can't be here tonight," he begins, the words feeling very awkward in his mouth, "I know you are worried about him," Derek continues, still not being able to say what it is that he wants to say, mostly because does not have words for the raw responses that his wolf is having to her. Sighing, he drops his eyes to the floor, still playing with the shirt in his hands. Hearing her soft sigh as the baby releases her, he is shocked at the sound of her speech, "Derek it's okay, I know that you need to be with the pack, that tonight they need you more," Standing she crosses to him, resting her palm on his face as she tilts his face up so their eyes can meet, "You are a good Alpha, you will keep them all safe tonight and Jacob and I will be fine too. You just come back to us in the morning okay."

Giving her a sad smile, he nods and they meet in a chaste kiss, marking their promise that everything would be okay. As he joins the others downstairs he can't help but feel jealous as Erica and Isaac hug Lydia, wanting her to hold him and comfort him the same way that she is holding the betas. He knows that they are scenting her, needing to bring some of her with them as they try to control their baser nature tonight. He remembers doing this to his mother when he was child just after he started shifting, and then with Laura after their worlds fell apart. It was a way of keeping your loved ones close to you, of keeping you human. He knew that the pull of the moon was hard for the young betas but he also knew that they were all more susceptible to the moon because it the blue moon held much more power than an average moon.

The ride to the old Hale house was tense and quiet as darkness began to fall over Beacon Hills. Once they all arrived, the pack slowly exited the SVU and Camaro and awkwardly stood in what had once been a driveway. Isaac and Erica drifted together, leaning towards each other but not quiet touching. Boyd stood behind the two of them like a steady sentinel, guarding his siblings even though he was technically the youngest. Scott stood anxiously to the right of the group, warily eyeing the woods surrounding them. Derek thought for a moment that this is where he was bitten, this is where is life became a horror movie and he allowed himself to feel sorry for the boy who sometimes still infuriated him.

Looking to Jackson, who had been the quietest the whole day, Derek could see the tension rippling under his skin. The boy was scared and Derek had no idea how to reassure him that being a wolf was not like being the Kanima. Turing Jackson had been a selfish act on Derek's part, the arrogant reaction of a new Alpha who wanted to knock the adolescent pain in the ass down a peg or two. He often wondered in the darkest part of his mind if his own issues are what caused Jackson's transformation to go so wrong. Jackson, who now stood to the left of the group, fidgeting with his clothes and not making eye contact with anyone; Jackson who was so changed from the self assured jackass who had demanded the bite those months ago.

Taking a breath, Derek began his instructions, "The moon will feel like it has even more power over you than normal tonight because it does, however you still have control over yourself and how much you power you want to give it. Before we can run as a pack, you have to connect with the wolf inside of you, find out how you are a part of it and it is a part of you. Lydia has created a space where you are free to run and give yourself over to the power within you. The best way to control the wolf, the shift, is to understand its intensity. This is a place where you can do that without the fear of hurting anyone else or of anyone hurting you. The harder you fight the shift, the more it will hurt, so give yourself over to it and find your own balance as wolf and a human."

"My skin feels too tight," Erica whines as she stretches.

"It is the moon rising," Derek nods, running a comforting hand over her head and she tucks into his touch like a kitten, "You all may want to go ahead and start running in the woods, find your own space to ride out the night. Listen to your body, you may want to hunt the animals, they are our natural pray and you don't have to worry about accidentally hurting anyone else." Nodding Scott takes off like a shot, stripping out of his clothes along to way. Erica and Isaac grasp each other's hands before running off in separate directions. Boyd takes a deep breath, his eyes flashing gold as he pulls his shirt over his head and moves toward the woods in the back of the house with slow, controlled movements. Looking to Jackson, Derek moves forward a bit, "It will not be like it was before," he begins.

"You have no idea what it was like before," Jackson snaps, blue eyes flashing. Derek cannot stop is own from flashing red, causing the beta to flinch before he get is irritation in check, "No, I don't, but I do know that as a wolf, no one controls you. You are in charge of your body and actions. It is going to be scary and it is going to hurt, but you will find a place that you can revel in it, that you can connect with the wolf inside you and you will reclaim your power there." He advises before moving into the house to give the boy a moment.

As he breaths in, he is overwhelmed with the smell of Lydia's blood mixed with his own, still on the floor from earlier. Needing to remove himself from the house and her scent, which is making him feel almost drunk, he quickly strips as the moon sits full in the sky. Letting out a roar, he gives over completely and takes his full Alpha form. Running through the woods, he is nearly overcome with the power thumping through his veins. Vaguely he registers the scents of his betas and avoids following any of the paths that they have taken, choosing to allow them the time to find the comfort within their own skin before they try to hunt together as a pack. Derek knows that they will need to hunt together at some point, but right now he is concerned that their individual instability will hinder that and lead to one or more of them being injured. His wolf is free of its usual confines and as he chases down a large buck, he can't help but revel in his own freedom. For what seems like hours this continues, stalking and tracking animals and his betas on order to check in on them, and make sure they are safe.

Allowing his instincts to guide him, he is overcome with the same feeling of intoxication that he felt earlier today in the house when he and Lydia mixed their blood and his internal compass leads him suddenly to the house again. What he is not expecting is to see the priestess herself, standing in only her yoga pants and his shirt that she had worn to bed; her bare feet filthy letting him know that she had walked here and the void look on her face letting him know that she had been drawn there in the same way he had. Before Derek can wonder what she is doing here, she turns to him and he realizes that he is letting out a low rumble in reaction to her. As her eyes widen at him he takes notice that she is standing in the exact spot that he had found Jacob in a month ago.

He hears her speak but does not register her words; instead he lowers himself onto all fours and moves towards her. He is mildly shocked when she stands completely still and does not move away from him or even act afraid. Her heartbeat is steady, though her breathing is a bit quick. Smelling the sharp tang of her blood he is drawn to her left hand, to the wound that he himself put there a few hours ago. Lifting his huge head, he nuzzles at her hand and she reflexively opens her palm. He presses his tongue to the wound, as if his wolf is apologizing too.

Feeling the Alpha's warm, wide tongue cleaning her hand, Lydia is hit with the realization that she does not fear this Alpha because he is her Alpha. Whispering, she says, "Derek?" though she knows the answer.

Feeling her other hand run affectionately over his head, Derek feels almost as if she is the one who pulled him there, hearing her speak his name causes him become lost in the overwhelming sensation that has lead him here.

As his name falls from her lips, Lydia is hit with an intense wave a desire that causes her eyes to close for a moment. As they flutter back open, her eyes are met with the mossy green that she has come so accustom too.

Derek again follows his instinct as his body falls back to his human form, he moves up the steps with the fluid grace of a predator, grabbing Lydia by the hips and lifting her to him. One hand buries itself in her hair and the other slides down her behind to grip the back of her thigh. Getting the message, she wraps her legs around him and kisses him back in earnest. Somehow they make it inside the house and Lydia is panting as he kisses his way down her neck and tugs on her ear with a growl. Leaning back a bit, she drags her nails down his chest as he seeks her skin, finally lifting the shirt off of her body, throwing it somewhere behind them before latching onto her neck in what is sure to leave a mark.

Pulling his face back to her own, Lydia presses her body against his as she kisses him again, both of the lost in a haze of lust as he pulls her away from the wall and walks them both up the stairs. Kicking a door open, they tumble through it and Lydia finds herself once again pressed against a wall by a very naked werewolf. As she catches her breath, Lydia braces her hands on Derek's shoulders, pushing him back for a moment and making him meet her eyes. They are both panting but after a few seconds, Lydia can see focus returning to his eyes as he suddenly becomes aware of what is going on. "Lydia?" he asks, obviously unclear on what is actually happening. Lydia can feel the slight buzz of the moon and the magic from earlier under her skin and she can only imagine what it is like for Derek, nodding her head she bites her lip before asking, "Are you with me?"

Panting for a moment he allows his eyes to drift down, realizing their current position and state of dress, "Yeah, I guess I got carried away, I just," he gulped, bringing his eyes back up, "I just wanted you."

"You aren't alone in that," she smiles as she leans forward and kisses him. After a moment he pulls back again, "Lydia this is you right, I mean this is real and it is not the moon or the spell or anything else but you right?" His tone is desperate.

"Oh I think it is a little of all of those things, but Derek can you feel it? I feel like every fiber of my soul is pushing this. This is all of those things, but this is overwhelmingly me, wanting you."

Pressing his forehead against hers, he nods, "Are you sure, because this is going to change a lot of stuff and I don't want you to feel like you have to,"

She cut him off with a kiss, "Shut up, Derek it is not going to change anything. We share a bed every night, we share a pack, hell we share a son, why not have this too? We don't have to name it or stress over it, just let this happen," she rolls her hips against him and he hisses. Lydia feels oddly uninhibited, normally she would have stressed over the words and the labels, but instead she cannot focus on anything with the fire running over her nerves and heat of the man pressed against her.

Gently Derek untangles her legs from around him and turns from her, a momentary panic rises in her chest until she realizes that he is opening a closet in the room and removing several down comforters. Making a quick pallet on the floor and topping them with several blankets Lydia smiles as he makes them an impromptu bed. Crossing to him, she slinks out of her yoga pants on the way over and kneels behind him, kissing his neck and shoulder and wrapping her arms around him so that her hands meet over his heart. Smiling as she presses her ear against his back, she can hear his heart rabbiting away against his ribs. He is nervous and she can't help but find that endearing. Placing a final kiss over the tattoo that rest in the center of his back, she guides him around and moves so that she is straddling his hips, his hands on her back as they kiss slowly, taking their time to explore each other's mouths.

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulls back just a bit, "Lydia, I," he pauses, not having the words, "I have never met anyone like you, you are the strongest, most powerful and caring woman I have ever met. I don't know how to say the feelings that I have for you, you" she presses her finger to his lips, stilling them, "Shh, I understand and I will always be here for you. I know that it hasn't been that long but I think I am falling in love with you. You don't have to say it back; I just want you to know."

"I would die to protect you," he vows and Lydia knows that somehow that is more powerful wording than love for him, "I am yours," he whispers against her lips as he rolls them over so that he is on top of her and it feels like a commitment. "I am yours," she whispers back.

Kissing and nipping his way down her throat, Derek begins sliding the strap to her bra down, as he reaches between her breasts for the clasp, Lydia lifts her hand to stop him, at his quirking eye brow, she says, "Leave it on, I don't want to leak."

For a moment he is confused and then he realizes what she means, placing a kiss over her heart, he respects her wishes and continues his journey kissing and biting her pale skin paying special attention to the angry scar that Peter left on her side causing her to gasp out and her eyes to flash in the moonlight. The moonlight reflects off of her in a way that makes her skin look like is illuminated silver. At some point it has started to snow and white flakes are landing in her hair as it fans out around her face making her look angelic.

Her pink lace underwear and bra stand out starkly against her alabaster skin as Derek lowers himself even more, locking eyes with her as he hooks his fingers in the waist band of her panties. At her nod, he places a kiss just above them and pulls the down and off of her body. Lydia allows him to slide her feet on either side of his hips as he kneels in front of her. Locking eyes with him as he runs his tongue up the inside of her ankle, causing her to moan loudly Lydia feels a shift in the atmosphere around them, she knows that they are acting out their own desires but there is something else going on here. Watching him move up her body, his movements are fluid and deadly—she knows that the predator is just below the beautiful surface and she can't help but be a little more turned on by that.

By the time he has licked and nipped his way between her thighs she is a panting mess. Burying her fingers in his thick hair as he licks his way between her folds, circling her clit before sucking it hard into his mouth causing her to cry out and arc her back off the blankets.

Neither of them notices the fire suddenly roaring in the fire place but it does a wonderful job of fighting the ambient cold in the house as the two lovers lose themselves in one another. Lydia screams out her first orgasm with Derek's face clinched between her legs and his fingers thrusting deep inside of her. As soon as she is capable of thought she is pulling him up her body and kissing him fiercely. Flipping them over, Lydia takes charge, an innate feeling of dominance fills her as she slides her nails down his torso, leaving angry red welts that heal almost instantly as Derek cries out. Taking hold of his manhood, Lydia revels in the thick, hard silkiness of him. Guiding him to her body, she teases him up and down her warm wet slit a few times, intrigued by the feel of his foreskin retracting as he becomes even harder and thicker in her hand. Seeing his lidded eyes, she pulls him up for a kiss as she sinks down onto him, biting his lip as she becomes fully seated. Both of them freeze for a moment, allowing each other to adjust to the feeling of finally being one after all of their pining. Unable to stay still any longer, Lydia uses his shoulders as leverage to lift herself and start to ride him. After a few minutes, Derek slides his hands down her back and lets them rest on her hips as he lays back on the blankets, getting a definite thrill out of watching her. Changing her angle, Lydia leans back a bit and begins to ungulate on top of him, causing Derek's toes to curl into the floor and his eyes to glaze over. What they both miss is the fact that her eyes flash a glowing blue green as she canters her hips in a most primal movement.

Taking the little breathy sighs that he was making as a good sign, Lydia allowed the power that she felt within the man under her, inside of her, to flow through her body. As he let his head loll to the side, exposing his neck, Lydia knew that he was submitting to her. For a wolf, particularly an Alpha to submit was a huge act of trust at anytime, particularly on the full moon. Leaning forward she gently nipped at his exposed throat before soothing it with her tongue and a gentle kiss. This cause Derek to pull her into an almost violent kiss before again reaching for her bra clasp, "Please" he whispered, "I want to see all of you, it won't bother me," he promised and she guided his fingers to the clasp and lets him strip the bra off of her before sitting back up and continuing her movements.

Running his hands up and down her torso, Derek is entranced by her. Glowing silver skin, soft in the moonlight and so perfectly curved. He had seen her breast before, but that was always in the context of her feeding the baby, now that he got to worship her, he was amazed that they were as perfect as every other part of her. Full and firm and tipped with dusty nipples that he longed to touch but he avoided because he didn't want her to be uncomfortable. Hearing her breath start to hitch he knew she was close. Sliding his hand between them he began pressing her clit in time with their movements and soon she was clinching around him, digging her nails into his stomach as she rode out her orgasm.

Clinching her hips he did not give her a chance to recover before flipping the over and driving into her in long, pounding thrust. Bringing her knees up over his elbows, Lydia moaned and cried out her pleasure as Derek thrust into her with the wild abandon that they were both feeling under this full moon with the snow falling around them and the air seeming to sizzle with their every movement. Locking eyes with each other, they moved their hands in unison, her left to his right, locking them together the way they had that morning downstairs during the spell. As their fingers interlocked, they both felt an electricity pass through them and with one more primal thrust they were both spiraling over the edge into oblivion.

As they both came back to their senses, Derek pressed his forehead to Lydia's, kissing her passionately as he pulled himself from her body. Whimpering at the loss, she allowed him to pull her with him as he rolled over onto his back, pulling her to his chest and they both tried to cool down. Snow still drifted through the holes in the ceiling, melting as it reached their sweating skin. Unable to stop touching each other, the two continued to kiss and caress as they came down from the coitus high. As their breath returned to them, Lydia started to chuckle.

"What?" Derek looked down at her with an expression that landed somewhere between confusion and embarrassment. Running her hand over his face, she continued giggling, "That was, wow, why didn't we do that before?"

Smiling, his ego assuaged that she wasn't laughing at him, "I honestly don't know, but yeah that was pretty amazing." Derek kissed her again, rolling her on top of him as they kissed a bit more, both too tired to take it any further yet.

"So, not the worst way to spend a full moon?" She smiles at him from her perch on his chest, "No that was the best way I have ever spent a full moon," he agrees. Both of them are drawn out of their playful makeout session by the sparks of magic suddenly surrounding them, circling their still clasped hands and forming a light around them before seemingly absorbing into their skin. Both of them shiver with the shock of the magic rolling through their systems and gasp as they pull their hands away finding Lydia's palm completely healed.

"What the hell was that?" Derek asked, confusion evident in his tone.

"I have no idea," Lydia admitted, inspecting her healed skin, "But I think a little more happened here than just the mind blowing sex."

"Mind blowing?" He smirked, causing her to smack is shoulder with her free hand, "Oh could you stop being a guy for five seconds—yes mind blowing, earth shaking, best sex ever was had, but there was also sparkly magic and weird hand binding that I am going to need to know more about." She declares as she sits up, still straddling his body but her face was all business. Derek however was not as he sat up, kissing his way up her chest as he repeated, "Mind blowing, earth shaking, best sex ever," punctuating each word with a kiss, end by biting her earlobe. "Oh God, you are such a guy," she panted before pulling away from him, "I have to go soon," she sounded sad as she kissed him again.

Sliding his arms around her hips he pulled her closer, "Why?"

"Because the pack will be back soon and I don't know how to explain this to them," she gestured between their still very naked bodies, "and because Jacob will be hungry soon and I need to be home when he wakes up, unless you want to have this conversation with Stiles," he kisses her to cut her off.

"Okay, I guess you have to go, but," he sighs, pulling her closer to him, weirdly needing to confess this, "You know from the first night we woke up together, the night we moved into the house, I have wanted Jacob's eyes to turn green like yours." He chuckled self- deprecatingly, "I know that is crazy, but it's true, I want him to look like you."

Chuckling with him she smiles, "Really?" He nods, slightly embarrassed, "Because I want him to look like you, I want him to have those mercurial grey green eyes and those Maybelline eyelashes and your heart, your strength and your jaw line of course," he smiles at that, laughing and kissing her nose, "And God he has got to have your smile."

"He needs your heart, because yours is so much better than mine and your strength because I am nowhere near as strong as you," he whispers. Their words taper off as the just hold each other, basking in the moments, in the fading night. Hearing the betas moving closer, yet still several miles in the woods, Derek sighs, "We have only got about twenty minutes until they are back."

Nodding, Lydia kisses him one last time before she stands on shaky legs and finds her underwear and bra, pulling them on, "Hey where did the fire come from?" she asks as she snaps her bra shut.

"I think you started it sometime around your first," he gestured awkwardly towards her middle, causing her to laugh as she pulled on her pants, "You really can't say orgasm?" at his blush, she leans forward and kisses him with a chuckle before focusing on the fire and watching it fizzle out quickly, "Walk me out?"

Nodding he stands, wrapping a blanket around himself to hide his nudity and bar off the cold as she leads him to the stairs. As they kiss in the foyer, reluctant to part as a scent catches him. Leading her into the living room, the both see that there are scorch marks on the altar they set up earlier and that there is a secondary triskale within the one that Lydia had drawn yesterday. "What is?" she began but it was clear that Derek was as clueless as she was, "I think we need to talk to Deaton tomorrow."

Nodding he kisses her again and finds her discarded shirt, pulling it over her head, it occurs to him that she walked here, looking around, he finds his keys and hands them to her, "Here, drive my car home and I will catch a ride with the others."

"How are you going to explain that?" She asks.

Chuckling he answers, "I am not really going to have to, this whole place reeks like us, they are all going to know the minute they get close to the house." Blushing at the thought, she asks, "Really?"

Nodding he kisses her, "Really, it smells like you and sex and I smell like you and sex," he clarifies.

"And what do I smell like?" She asks a bit breathlessly.

"Me and sex," he whispers before pressing his keys into her palm and watching her walk through the door and climb into the car. With one more look back she blows him a kiss and drives out of sight. Smiling to himself, Derek sighs and he collects his clothes from the living room where he had left them earlier. Dressing quickly he smiles to himself once more before moving to the porch to face the undoubted taunts and opinions of his pack as the sky starts to lighten in the east and the moon makes her final decent for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Thanks!


	16. The morning after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Thanks!

Lydia drove home quickly, trying to repress the giggles that were fighting to bubble out of her throat. Her whole body felt like it was tingling, her nerve endings still sparking in remembrance of Derek's fingers gliding over her, skin pressing against hers, the pounding of his pulse inside of her. Letting out a breath, she tried to focus her mind on getting into the house, feeding the baby and taking a shower without tipping Stiles off to the fact that she had left.

As she parked the car around back and crept into the back door, she discovered that luck was not with her. Closing the door as quietly as possible, she heard a throat clear behind her. Knowing the jig was up, she pressed her forehead against the door for a moment, feeling Stiles mocking glare on her back. Turning, she met his amused eyes over his cup of coffee, "Mornin'," he smiles.

Turning against the door, she smirks back, "Morning."

"So where ya been?"

"Stiles," she begins but he continues, "Or maybe I should say who ya been doing?"

"Stiles," she groans as he continues, "Stumble onto anyone we know?"

"Stiles," she snaps, her shoulders dropping, "I have had a long weird night and I need a shower before Jacob wakes up, so can we just, have this super awkward conversation like, never?"

"Weird, like weird how?" he asks as she moves past him into the living room, "What are we talking? Knots? Growling? Biting? Oh God there wasn't like peeing right?"

"Stiles," she yelps.

"What, you zombie out of here in the middle of the night and leave me to babysit your cranky kid while you bump uglies with the Alpha and you tell me it was "long and weird" and you don't expect me to ask questions? I mean what was long and weird? Wait, _it_ wasn't long and weird right? 'Cause I may need some details."

"Zombie? You saw me leave?"

"Not the point of that particular statement, but yeah, we were asleep on floor, I woke up when you stood up but you were not responding to me, it was like I wasn't even talking, then you looked at me, your eyes went all glowy and you said, "the sacred binding must be completed the moon is high, the power is full" and then you wondered off. I would have followed, but you like psychically knocked me out and then when I woke up I figure you were with Derek and I didn't think Jacob should be there for what the hell ever 'the binding' was because I got the distinct feeling that it involved parental nudity and that would scar the little guy, not mention me."

"Why would you assume that there would be nudity or uglies?" She stumbled through the Stiles speak, still not really making eye contact.

Scoffing, he sat down his coffee and grabbed her shoulders, "Please, binding isn't even that good of a euphemism and you don't have to be a werewolf to smell the sex reeking off of you, and also," he chuckled, "you have mud and leaves in your hair," he pulls out an oak leaf to drive home his point, "Lydia Martin does not run around in the middle of winter with leaves in her hair unless she just spent the night rolling around with a werewolf, so," he tries again for details.

"Is Jacob okay, you said he was cranky," she looks around for the baby trying to straighten her hair and avoid his questions.

"He is in your room, he cries every time I try to take him out of there so I wrapped him up in your clothes and let him sleep up there while I made myself some coffee and waited for your supernatural walk of shame."

Releasing a breath she nods, "Thanks Stiles, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you alone to take care of him and I am sorry I knocked you out, I didn't know that I was going to," she trails off, not knowing how to explain the night before.

"Go have a primal booty call in the woods?" He supplies, still enjoying this too much.

"I am not going to talk about it so you can stop insinuating," she stands and climbs the stairs.

"What," he puts on an innocent face, "I just have some academic questions about werewolf sex," he begins.

"Then why don't you go have some of your own," she turns on him at the top of the stairs causing him to stumble and sputter a bit, "I mean I am sure Erica would experiment with you, or hell, maybe even Isaac." She smirked at his confused face as she closed her bedroom door quickly before he can collect himself enough to ask more questions. Locking the door behind her, she sighed again, Stiles' words about her exit dampening her morning after reflections. Checking on Jacob, she takes a very quick shower while he is still asleep. Stripping out of her clothes while the water temperature rises, Lydia smiles at the definitive soreness of her muscles and the nail marks on her skin, the slight burn from Derek's stubble and angry red bites and hickies that littered her neck and chest. Letting her fingers slide over them, she is assailed at images of their tryst.

Stepping into the shower she washes Derek's scent from her body, scrubbing his sweat and mouth and semen from her skin makes her almost sad, like if the evidence is gone then the night wasn't real. As she finishes rinsing her hair, she can hear the baby start to fuss in the other room and quickly turns off her shower and wraps her hair in one towel, her body in another. Rushing to her room, she dries herself quickly and throws a soft button down shirt over her body, leaving it unbuttoned and a pair of white boy shorts so Jacob will not have to be pressed against the damp towel.

Scooping up the baby, who is screaming at this point, his face screwed up in an angry wail, "Hey, now, hey, calm down love," she rocks him a little as she takes a seat on the bed and brings him to her chest. Jacob latches on almost immediately and continues to make little sobbing mews for a few minutes as he starts to eat. Leaning back against the bed, Lydia lets the exhaustion of the last 24 hours seep into her bones and she relaxes as the baby suckles. She is so lost in her own thoughts that she doesn't hear Derek pick the lock or enter the room until his lips are pressed against her forehead.

As soon as he lost sight of the car and got dress, Derek wondered out onto the front porch and waited for his betas. He could hear them tumbling through the woods, their scents lighter than they had been the night before. As they broke through the tree line from every direction, still pulling their clothes on despite the biting winter air. He stood resolute on the porch, hands in the pockets of his jeans, waiting for the fall out. Making eye contact with each of them, he did a quick check for blood or any visible injury, while there was a scattering of sweat and animal blood, all of the betas seemed to be in good health. It was Erica who caught on first, "Derek, where is your car?" she quirked her head looking around the driveway.

"Um I am going to get a ride back with you guys," he answered, hoping that they would let it drop. After a moment, he saw a smirk make its way across her face and she spun to face Isaac, who seemed half asleep, "You owe me twenty bucks," she punctuated her claim with a little hop.

"Uh?" He muttered and Boyd seemed to clue in at that point, flashing Derek an amused look, but moving quietly off to the car, "What do you say we all pile in and get back to the house, I could use a shower and some breakfast," The big wolf suggest, hoping to avoid an awkward conversation for his Alpha.

"Why does he owe you money," Scott asked, tilting his head and looking every ounce the confused puppy, it took everything in Derek to not shake his head at how dense the boy could be sometimes as he walked down the steps and toward the car and the others chuckled a bit.

"No really," Scott asked again only to be met with giggles from Erica as she climbed in the backseat.

"Because, Derek fucked Lydia last night and I am guessing they had a wager McCall," Jackson snapped, shoving past the boy and taking a sulking seat against the window.

"What, Derek, Lydia, what?" He was still confused.

"Don't tell me you can't smell that? It is like a werewolf brothel," Erica chuckled at the bewildered boy.

"But, how, why?"

"You see Scott, when a mommy wolf and a daddy wolf love each other very much," Erica begins in an ice-cream voice that is cut off by Derek's growl, "Stop it, there will be no talking about this," he exclaimed, "Or betting on it," he fixed Erica with a stare as she tried desperately to contain her giggles.

"Aren't you a little cranky for a guy who just got laid?" She retorted making the others giggle.

"I still don't know why she took the car," Isaac whined as he crammed in the backseat with three other wolves.

"Because she didn't drive out here and I wasn't going to let her walk home," Derek began only to realize that he was just playing into their goading.

"So you gave her your car, you could have just called a cab," Scott suggested.

"To the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night? Yeah no cab is coming out here for the post hook up ride home," Erica teased only to be stopped by Derek.

"Shut up and stop talking about her like that," Derek growled again.

Scoffing, Jackson asked, "Like what, like you fucked her on the full moon to get your Alpha bloodlust out and then sent her on her way after you were done so you wouldn't have to talk to her?"

Turning to face the younger wolf, Derek tried to remind himself that Jackson was speaking from concern and not just because he was an ass and therefore Derek should not rip his throat out, "That is not what happened Jackson," he begins in a low tone, "neither of us planned for," he tried to reword it, "I didn't know that she was going to show up," that didn't sound any better, "We think that maybe the barrier spell,"

"Oh, good, so you fucked because of a _spell_ and _then_ sent her off like a bar hook up," Jackson egged him on.

"NO! THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" Derek yelled in frustration, turning in his seat to face the arrogant beta, "I didn't send her away, she had to go home because Jacob,"

"Oh so you fucked her and then sent her home to take care of your kid once you were done so you wouldn't have to talk to her," Jackson corrected condescendingly.

"Stop it Jackson," Boyd barked, the warning in his voice clear enough that the beta backed down and the rest of the ride was made in silence. As they all exited the car, Derek stayed back a moment while the others filed in, "Jackson," he called making the boy pause on the stairs as Isaac closed the door to give the them the illusion of privacy.

"Jackson, I am not completely sure what happened last night, but this thing with Lydia, it is not a spell or the fact that she is a priestess or Jacob or anything but the fact that she is Lydia and she is amazing," Derek admits, his face more open that Jackson has ever seen as he turns to face the Alpha. Nodding, Jackson says, "Okay, I believe you, but," looking down he searches for his words, "She is special, like so much more special than all of this shit that we have dumped on her and, she deserves better than either of us."

"She does," Derek agrees.

"As long as know that," Jackson turns before looking back at the Alpha once more, "And you should know that if you hurt her, or if you allow this bullshit freak show that is our lives to hurt her, I will kill you, Alpha or not." The chill his is voice lets Derek know that he means everything he is saying and Derek can't help but be proud of the mercurial beta.

"I would deserve it. Thank you for loving her Jackson, I will die to protect her, even from me," He squeezes the beta's shoulder as he moves past him into the house as he hears the baby start to cry and wanting nothing more than to take a shower and fall asleep holding Lydia and Jacob.

Entering the house he passed the kitchen and the hushed conversation that Erica and Stiles seemed to be having and mounted the stairs with a singular focus. Reaching the door to Lydia's bedroom he heard that Jacob was calming down but he was thwarted by the locked door. Smirking he reached above the door casing and grabs a hair pin he had put there the last time Lydia had locked herself in her room. Picking the lock quickly, he eases the door open to reveal Lydia sitting against the headboard, her legs swept to the side, long wet hair over her shoulder and dressed in only white underwear and an open cotton top feeding Jacob. As she spoke softly to the baby, Derek couldn't help but think that she looked like an angel. He knew that he was smiling like an idiot as he crossed the room silently and pressed a kiss to her forehead, needing to touch her but not wanting to disturb the scene.

As he pulled away, she looked up at him with a tentative smile, "Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning beautiful," he smiled back think how that was the cheesiest thing he could say and that he was an idiot, but she didn't stop smiling so he hoped that she hadn't noticed.

Looking down he ran a hand over Jacob's head but the baby did not stir from his singular focus "I'm going to take a shower," he tells her softy and she nods, yawning. Pressing another kiss to her head, he stands and enters the bathroom. Showering quickly he is drying off when he hear Lydia yelp "Derek!"

Wrapping a towel around his hips quickly he hurries to her "What? What's wrong," he is looking over her and Jacob, trying to find the cause of her alarm.

"Derek, look," she pulls the baby away, which causes the little boy to cry out, "Look at his eyes," she clarifies and runs her thumb over Jacob's lips until the baby starts to suck on her thumb and opens his eyes widely so that Derek can see that the newborn blue has changed into a mossy green so like his own that it is uncanny.

Looking to Lydia for an explanation, she shrugged, "I was feeding him and when he opened his eyes they were green, they were not like this last night but now they are just like yours," her voice tapers off.

"Well that's weird," he says, running a finger over the baby's brow, "I, I don't know why," he stood and pulled out some sweatpants from the bottom drawer that held his stuff, as Jacob started to fuss again, Lydia lifted him back to her chest and continued feeding the boy.

"Derek we never found out who his real parents are, I mean, that eye color has got to be rare, only 2% of the population has green eyes and for them to be the exact shade," she ramble a bit and Derek chuckled, "Of course you would know that," looking at her, he sighed, "Lydia, just ask, I know you want to."

"Is he, I mean is it possible that someone left a newborn with your eyes and your genetic predisposition to be a companion on your door step because he is _your_ child? I mean no one would be hurt if he where, it's just," crossing to the bed, he sat in front of her and held up a hand to cut her off, "Lydia, he is not my biological child. As much as I wish he was because it would make this easier, as much as I love him as if he were, I didn't father a child with some random girl in February and then abandon them, I was still in New York in February."

Nodding she looks down at the baby, who is pressing his hand against her heart as if to reassure her that everything was okay, "Okay, but Derek are you sure?"

Sighing he ran his hands over his face and nodded, "Yeah, I am sure because it isn't possible, and by isn't, I mean _isn't_ , I was still in school there in February and I was staying with a local pack and Laura had just left but I wasn't sleeping with a priestess, I think I would have remembered that."

"Not even one drunken hook up?"

"I can't get drunk, and I am very sure, last night is the first time I have had sex in over a year, Jacob can't be my biological child."

"Okay," she nods as she burps the baby, "Then he has got to be related to you somehow, I mean that is a family trait right?"

"Yeah, my sister and I had the same eyes, but my family, as much as I know of them is dead, except for Peter and I don't think that he knocked anyone up," They both grimace a bit at the thought.

"Derek something is going on here," their eyes meet and he leans over to kiss her, "I know, and we will figure it out, but for now can we just get some sleep? I am exhausted and so are you. When we wake up, we will go see Deaton and hopefully he can explain what is going on with Jacob and what the hell that spell was but for now, rest."

Nodding, Lydia looked down at Jacob who was playing with her hair and smiled, "Derek, I just need you to know that no matter what we find out, no matter what magic was at work last night, I don't regret it. I care about you and I want to be with you and that has nothing to do with magic or priestesses or anything but you."

Reading the truth of her words in her eyes, he smiles softly, "I don't regret it either, Lydia I care about you and I would die to protect you but it is not just because you are a priestess or because you are pack, it is because you are amazing and I want to share my life with you," Tears flooded her eyes as they leaned in and sealed their promises with a kiss, hearing Jacob gurgle between them, they both chuckle, "and Jacob," he adds, kissing the baby's forehead, "I want to share my life with you and Jacob." Standing he circled the bed and climbed in the other side, taking the baby and settling him on his chest slipping under the covers, Lydia curled into Derek, resting one hand on Jacob's back and finally fell asleep.

Downstairs Erica was doing some form of happy dance with Isaac while Boyd rolled his eyes and focused on wrapping presents and Scott and Jackson quietly ate breakfast and joked with Stiles.

A few miles away, Deaton and Peter stood in the remnants of the Hale house and stared at the charred altar on the floor which was now sporting two joined triskale marks, "So do you think it worked?" Deaton asked, his voice controlled.

"I think that something worked because they definitely joined last night," Peter sniffs the air with a chuckle.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Deaton looked at the Beta, "They are going to have a lot of questions."

Nodding, Peter buried his hands in his pockets, "Yes, and it is time that they knew the answers."

Hearing the door creak behind them the men turned to see the Sheriff enter the house taking off his hat, "Gentlemen, we have another problem," he begins.

"What?" Peter asks while Deaton's eyebrows take on a concerned tilt.

"They just found a body out off of 15, young, female, she's been there about month, she has been split open from sternum to groin."

"Oh, shit, this just got more complicated," Peter sighs.


	17. Magical, Mystery WHAT!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Lydia get some answers and a few big shocks!

Stretching in that wonderful place between sleep and consciousness Lydia let a devious smile curl on her lips as she felt the soreness between her legs and down her thighs; it had been too long and she could still feel the aftershocks of the magic and the power and the pleasure of last night rolling blissfully through her body. Rolling onto her side she let her eyes slide open only to come face to face with the cold hollow stare of a corpse. As she let out a scream, she felt her body being pulled from sleep, her real eyes flying open; she is met with the slightly panicked eyes of Derek Hale.

"Lydia, Lydia are you awake, can you hear me?" He asked and she realized that he was holding her up by her shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh.

Feeling a little drunk she nodded loosely, "yeah, yeah I'm awake," she says as the fog cleared, "I, what the hell happened?"

"You tell me," Derek says, his eyes scouring her face for clues.

"I thought I was waking up and I could feel someone behind me, I thought it was you so I rolled over and opened my eyes, but I saw a woman." She stumbled through her explanation trying to put the images into words.

"A woman?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh what are you, Stiles, shut up," she rolled her eyes, instantly regretting it and bringing her hand up to her head trying to stop the spinning.

"Lydia," he prompted, running one hand down her back, while the other continued to support her.

"Um, she was dead," Lydia added.

"Dead?" His voice sounded thin, "Did you know her?"

Shaking her head subtly, she continued, "No, I have never seen her. She was young, pretty. She had light brown hair and small features, but Derek," her eyes went wide as she recalled the face, "Derek she didn't have any eyes."

"What? Like they were taken out?"

"No like she didn't have any, there were just black pits where they should have been. Derek what the hell is going on?" She asked tears welling in her eyes.

Kissing her forehead he pulled her close, "Oh baby I don't know, I wish I did," he sounded helpless, a tone that didn't sit well on him. Snuggling into his arms, Lydia moved so that she is straddling him and pressed a kiss to the skin just above his heart, breathing in the clean earthy scent of him.

"How long where you trying to wake me?" She looked up at him.

"You started to whimper in your sleep, I tried to wake you and then you started screaming so I tried to shake you awake, you started to fight me and that is when I sat you up, then you woke up." Looking down at his chest, she notices faint red lines that are still healing and thin traces of blood, "Oh God, did I scratch you?" she leans back, running her hands over the area.

"Its fine, I am just glad that you are okay, you scared me," he pulled her back into a hug. Shifting a little she presses a kiss into his neck, just above his pulse and his breath quickens. Tracing the vein with her teeth and tongue she nips him, soothing the skin with her tongue causing his pulse to quicken under her mouth. Smiling into his skin, she wonders if this is what it is like to be a wolf—knowing when you are having an effect on someone even when they are not outwardly reacting. Licking her way to his ear, she rolls her tongue around the lobe before biting down harder than necessary drawing a growled moan from the Alpha.

Derek tried desperately to restrain himself, knowing that the whole pack was in the house and could hear them, but the things Lydia was doing with her tongue paired with the feeling of her hardened nipples brushing over his skin where her shirt was still unbuttoned was making all of the blood in Derek's body rush south and making him want nothing more than to flip her over and slam himself into her until she was screaming. Feeling her hips rock against him almost pushed him over the edge until Jacob let out a sharp wail from his bassinet beside the bed and Derek was startled back into reality.

Rocking back onto her bottom Lydia let out a frustrated sigh, "He has terrible timing," she flipped her hair.

Chuckling he stood, needing to put some distance between the two of them, "Maybe not," Derek considers, at the hurt look on her face Derek tilts his head towards the door and mouths _They can all hear us_ at which her eyes widen and a blush spreads over her cheeks.

"Yeah maybe not," She considers as she watches Derek change the baby. Looking up at her as he changes Jacob from rote memory he takes in Lydia—sleep rumpled as she kneels on the bed, hair in lose curls and lips swollen from his own. Her tiny boy shorts and open shirt frame her torso both taunt and soft and so supple. Looking closer Derek can see the red bites and faint bruises from last night marring her perfect skin; the light scratches from his stubble on her belly and thighs, the hickies on her collarbone and chest; her nipples dark against her fair complexion, white drops beading on the peaks of them, heavy and responding to their son's cries.

As he lowers the baby into her arms, he is overcome with a primal urge of _'Mine_ ' and a need to protect them stronger than anything he has ever felt. It is almost tangible; stronger even than the connection he feels to his betas, hell stronger than the connection he felt to his blood family. This connection transcends sex, it transcend love and pack and family; it is like a growing need spreading through his body, as though his blood screaming at him that she was his to protect and worship. Unconsciously he felt himself kneeling beside the bed in front of where she now sat her legs folder beneath her as she cooed to the baby. The baby with his eyes; the baby who smelled like them—him and her and home--running his fingers over the baby's hair he tried to slow his heart. Feeling his chest tighten, he felt the words squeeze out, "We need to see Deaton and find out what is going on, I,"

He felt himself flush and knew from the wrinkle in her brow that she caught it, "Derek, what's wrong?" She asked, her eyes worried.

"N- nothing, I just, Lydia do you feel strange?" He looked up as she brought her hand to his face, cupping his cheek as she ran her thumb over his cheekbone the way he had seen her do with Jacob before.

"A little, maybe, I can still feel the magic or energy or whatever from last night flowing through me, it is like sparks from our hands are still flickering under my skin," she whispered, both of them unconsciously lifting their left hands and linking them. Smiling Derek turned their intertwined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. This brought a giggle from Lydia, "You're the first person to ever kiss my hand," she smiled.

"Really," he quirked an eyebrow, now feeling like the tension had broken.

"Really," she pressed her lips to the back of his hand with a smile causing them both to giggle a little. Glancing towards the door, Derek let out a chuckle, "The pack want to know if you are okay."

"Really?" She follows his gaze towards the door. Nodding he continues, "Erica and Isaac are arguing over whether to knock or not, they don't want to interrupt," he pauses and with a chuckle continues, "Important Alpha sexy times."

Looking at him seriously she deadpans, "We have got to start monitoring their Stiles time," causing him the laugh in earnest and Erica to say "Hey now, that is totally not fair," loudly enough for Lydia to hear.

"Well Erica if you are going to be stalking outside the door anyway, you might as well just come in." Pulling her shirt as closed as she can and buttoning the bottom buttons Lydia calls out, "Come on," after Erica asks, "really."

Hearing the door open, she looks over to see Isaac and Erica in the hallway, but after seeing that she is feeding the baby, only Erica enters. Looking to Derek Erica widens her eyes and nods her head toward the door. Rolling his eyes, Derek leans over and presses a kiss to Lydia's hair and to Jacob's head before exiting the room, taking his cell phone with him.

Hearing her Alpha clear the stairs, Erica takes a seat beside Lydia on the bed, awkwardly staring at the wall in front of her for a moment, Erica finally sighs and looks to Lydia, "So you know I have been a big Dydia supporter from the beginning and like, I totally still am, but I just," She looks down, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, "I just don't want this to change things, I mean you and Derek have always kept everything strictly platonic and I know that there was a spell and stuff, but well I guess what I am saying is," The blond lifts her wide brown eyes to meet Lydia's bemused ones, "Is this whole sex thing going to make everything weird and awkward, cause I really like being here and I love the dynamic we have and I don't want things to change," Smiling Lydia finally stops Erica's rambling.

"Erica, everything is fine, nothing is going to change between Derek and I, we have already discussed this. I am not sure exactly what happened that brought us together last night, but we weren't exactly platonic before, we just didn't want you guys to know because we didn't want it to be awkward either, but, we have Jacob and we have you guys and," Looking down at the baby, she smiles before looking back at the she-wolf, "Erica we are a family, and nothing is going to change that."

After a moment's pause, Erica launches herself at the redhead, "Oh thank God!" She laughs a Jacob lets out a squawk at being disturbed, "Oh sorry buddy," Erica coos at the baby, rubbing his arm, "He is getting so big," she giggles and Lydia nods.

"So," Erica ventures and she leans back against the headboard, "I know this may sound weird but my whole life I have wanted a twin."

Giving her a confused looks Lydia says, "Um your right it does sound weird."

"Well I think that with, you know everything, I never really had friends so I was alone a lot and I always thought that if I had a twin it would be better because I would have a built in friend, someone who had to play with me and have secrets with and," looking down she whispered, "Someone who had to love me."

Lydia reaches over and takes Erica's hand with her free hand, squeezing it and giving her a sad smile. "I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone Erica," Lydia said.

"Yeah," the blond nodded, "But it is not an issue now because I have all of you, it is like having four brothers and you are like the sister I always wanted; beautiful and sweet and smart."

Lydia could feel tears start to well in her eyes, "I love too Erica," she smiled, "And I always wanted a sister too, I am glad I have one now." As Jacob finished Lydia lowered him to the bed and buttoned the rest of her shirt before pulling Erica into a hug. After a moment, Erica picked up the baby to burp him and Lydia stood to get dressed for the day.

"So," Erica said from the bed and she rubbed Jacob's back, "You want to share the details of last night Sis?" She flashed Lydia a mischievous smile as Lydia rolls her eyes, "You have got to stop talking to Stiles."

Chuckling, Erica nods, "Never! But really, please tell me, was it as good as I think it was?"

"A lady never tells," Lydia smiles primly before turning to face the mirror to fix her hair and makeup, "But it was totally awesome, like amazing," she admits which causes Erica to squeal and startle Jacob before both girls start giggling and trying to calm the baby. As he opens his eye, Erica lets out a gasp, "Whoa!" and looks at Lydia for explanations.

"I know right?" Lydia answers, running her thumb between Jacob's eyebrows, "That is one of the reasons that we are going to see Deaton today, to see if he can explain it."

As Lydia explained the baby's eyes changing that morning to Erica, Derek entered the room, now dressed in jeans and a long sleeved thermal, his leather coat in his hands, "I just got off the phone with Deaton, he wants us to meet him at his office, he said that he needs to talk to us."

Lydia moved to pack up the baby's bag while Erica dressed Jacob in tiny jeans and a long sleeved light green onesie and tiny shoes. Double checking that she had everything she took the baby from Erica and hugging the girl goodbye she whispered, "Don't leave the house while we are gone, I have a bad feeling so keep everyone here okay."

Looking tersely at the redhead's face, Erica nodded, "Sure okay, see you soon." With that the girls parted and Derek rushed Lydia into the car, taking the baby from her and buckling him in. Once they are clear of the house she looks to him, "Okay are you going to tell me what Deaton said that has you so tense?"

Sighing, Derek looks at her momentarily before focusing back on the road, "It is not what he said, he just sounded stressed and like he was not telling me something, he just said to get there soon."

Reaching over and squeezing his thigh, "Well here we go," she gives him a tight smile as they pull into the parking lot. Parking behind the building, Lydia moves slowly to climb out of the car, a sense of dread filling her as Derek unstraps the baby from his carseat. Taking a deep breath as Derek circles the car and takes her hand in his free hand and leads her into the building. Deaton meets them at the back door of the office and guides them in with a look of utter exhaustion. What the young couple do not expect when they enter the office is to see an equally exhausted Peter Hale and Sheriff Stilinski.

"Well this is a surprise," Lydia mumbles, squeezing Derek's hand.

Nodding to the Sheriff and eyeing his uncle wearily Derek unconsciously presses his back against the wall and eyeing the exits, finally realizing that Peter, Deaton and the Sheriff have blocked off all of the exits. Pulling Jacob closer to his chest he is on edge, not liking the trapped feeling of the room. At everyone's uncomfortable silences, Lydia shifted a bit closer to Derek and said, "Well not that this awkward silence isn't fun, but we have an Alpha pack to defeat, someone following us and a hell of a lot of questions so can we get started here?"

Shaking out of his reserve, Deaton stepped forward, "Of course, dear, of course, I believe this would be easiest if you just started asking questions and letting us answer."

"Okay, how long has the Sheriff known about werewolves and why didn't he ever tell us?"

Leaning forward a bit from where he was half sitting on the counter, John Stilinski answered, "Well, I have known about the wolves for years. I grew up with Talia and she let me in on the secret. I became a cop to help cover up what I could. After the fire, well," he spared a glance at Derek who clinched his jaw, "I hadn't been able to save my friends and I felt," sighing, it was clear that this was hard for the man to speak of, "well, I felt like a failure and I tried to solve the case, but it wasn't until the hunters came back that I got the evidence I needed on Kate Argent." Standing completely he looked at Derek who was staring at the infant in his arms, trying to keep a calm facade, "Derek I am sorry that you had to go through the arrest and everything, I knew that you didn't have anything to do with it and that you didn't hurt your sister, but it was the only way I could protect you from an unknown Alpha and not give myself away. I didn't know how involved with the other packs you had become or anything about you when you came back and my son was involved so I had to protect he and Scott while keeping you as safe as I could."

Nodding, Derek answered quietly, "That actually makes sense, you put me in jail the night that Peter went to the house to kill me, so you did protect me," Lydia cut him off, "What? Peter tried to kill you?"

Peter just stared at the floor as his nephew continued, "When I got out of lock up and went back to the house, I could smell the Alpha. I didn't know it was Peter until later but yeah," looking back at the Sheriff, he continued, "You should tell Stiles that you know, he worries way too much about you and he feels horrible lying to you but he thinks he is protecting you. It would be good for him to know." The Sheriff nodded solemnly.

"Okay now that that is cleared up," Lydia continued turning to Deaton, "What the hell was that spell you gave us, because it was not a simple perimeter binding spell."

"No, no it was not," he looked down before meeting Peter's eyes.

"Oh, no," she groaned, "Of course you have something to do with this!"

"It _was_ a binding spell but it was to bind the pack," Peter began.

"Wait, that type of binding for living beings should take place during the new moon, not the full moon," Lydia pointed out, looking to Deaton for conformation.

"True, but that spell is very specific and very old," Deaton steps forward a bit into the dim light of the office, "Typically binding takes place on the new moon, but during a blue moon, which is essentially taking the place of the new moon in the typical month and pushing the new moon until later, a different type of binding can take place."

"What type of binding? What are you two skirting around?" She looks between the two men, fist on her hips and fury building in her eyes.

"The binding of souls," Peter answers cryptically.

"Huh?" The redhead looks at him somewhere between outrage and confusion.

"In the old times, an Alpha companion would bind his soul to the priestess, not just make a vow to serve her but literally bind his essence to hers; that is what you did last night, you are bound to each other for life," Peter explains.

"So you tricked us into getting werewolf witch married?" Lydia screeches and Jacob lets out a sharp cry at her distress.

"Well it is a little beyond married," Deaton starts gently.

"Yeah you can get divorced if you are married," Peter adds with a smirk which leads to Lydia marching over and punching him square in the jaw. Both Derek and the Sheriff chuckle at Peter's shock.

"Why the hell would you do that? Do you get off on fucking with my life?" She screamed again and again the baby cried out but this time he kept crying.

"Because dear Lydia, you two are stronger together and you are going to need that strength to defeat the Alpha pack and protect that group of misfits that you have adopted," Peter leans down so that he is face to face with her.

As he notices her clinching her fist again, Derek is torn between the amusement of watching the tiny redhead hitting his jackass of an uncle and the need to move this along. Taking a step forward, he slides his hand around her waist and pulls her back against him, "Lydia you need to calm down, it is upsetting Jacob," he whispers in her ear and she spins around to face him, rubbing her hand down the baby's back as he cries, lifting him out of the bend of Derek's arm, she snuggles the baby to her own chest, he calms as soon as his ear is pressed over her heart. "Sorry buddy, mommy didn't mean to scare you." She whispers rubbing his back.

The three older men in the room all look on a bit shocked at her use of "mommy" but Peter pushes on, "The ritual worked, you were drawn to each other and the symbols united, you are bound to one another."

"Yeah, but why trick us? You could have been honest," Lydia snaps.

"Have you met the two of you?" Peter's sardonic tone causes the other men to smother a chuckle, "You are two of the most stubborn people alive, even if you would have been on board priestess, Father Derek of the self denial monastery over here wouldn't have. There is not enough wolf's bane on earth to remove that stick from his ass, so we had to use magic and the power of the blue moon to drop your inhibitions enough to get the both of you to act on what you wanted to do anyway."

"So you supernatural roofied us into getting werewolf married or just sleeping together?"

"Well the binding was easier to get you to do but the binding is sealed though," Deaton's discomfort is clear, "consummation and we felt that perhaps you both would be resistant to the idea of joining."

At his awkward explanation Derek shocked everyone by bursting out laughing, not chuckles or amused grunts but actual, honest to God belly laughs. Lydia soon joined in, trying to control her laughs as to not disturb the baby. The Sheriff joined them, having read the situation a bit better than the others but not wanting to put anyone on the spot.

"Well, uh, what are you laughing at?" Deaton ask, obviously confused.

When Derek's laughter is renewed the Sheriff pipes up. "I think that they are amused by the fact that both of you went way overboard in the secrets and stealth method of dealing with things when they were already a couple and would have happily done it." He continued chuckling.

Nodding Derek tried to contain his hysterical laughter, "You used magic, _moon magic_ at that, to get me to sleep with my girlfriend," he looked absolutely incredulous, "I got magically married because my uncle and the town vet thought it would be a good idea. _How_ is this my life?" He was now bordering on plan old hysterical, "It was bad enough that I lost my entire family but I almost had a normal life in New York and then my sister gets murdered and I get dragged back here and now I am married to my underage girlfriend and checking homework for a pack of children and probably going to get arrested for statutory rape because my psycho uncle thought I was a prude." Sliding down the wall, Derek rested his head in hands as the ridiculousness of the last year washed over him. Looking up at Lydia who was still snuggling Jacob and looking at him with wide unsure eyes, he sent her a soft smile and reached up to take her hand, kissing the back of it, she smiled back.

"Okay moving right past this crazy binding thing, why did we need to be bound? What does it change?" Lydia asked.

"Well it means that you are linked, your power is linked. Basically Lydia you can channel power from the earth and from the moon, you know that, but you can also borrow power from Derek or feed it to him."

"So I can make him stronger? Make his natural powers stronger?" Nodding the vet continued, "Yes, you can strengthen his abilities including his connections to his betas and his healing."

Letting the idea process, "Okay, but what about the betas, can I channel them too?"

Shaking his head Deaton says, "Only to the extent that Derek can, you will share a similar bond with them as Alpha female. You will be able to feel if they are in danger or hurt."

Looking down at the man sitting on the floor Lydia now understands that he knew that Erica and Boyd were scared and injured and that is why he was so determined to keep the safe. Nodding, she says, "Okay, I can see the benefit to this in fight the Alpha pack, but why the lies?" Glancing at Peter she adds, "What else are you hiding from us?"

Sighing, Peter looks at the young Priestess who seems so strong as she pulls the child tucked under her chin closer, his dark head beautifully contrasting against her pale skin. "We, the three of us, have been working together for years to protect the people of Beacon Hills,"

"Yeah, I remember your protection quite well; in fact I have a lovely scar from your form of protection. I think Scott appreciates it in a similar way."

Looking down, Peter tries to push down his emotions, "I lost myself for a while and I can never make amends for what I did, for the people I hurt but I am trying to protect my family now, to protect you," He looks at her and Lydia can see the truth of his intentions, however she still does not, cannot, trust him. When he takes a step toward her, Derek is on his feet and standing in front of her, separating them like a werewolf wall. Nodding in acquiescence, he continues, "Someone, maybe the Alpha pack, is hunting the remaining daughters of Cerridwen. We have all been tracing these events through our own resources but when Jacob arrived and was obviously a companion, mostly likely the child of a priestess, I knew that we had to find out who was after the Priestesses because they were getting to close. When Derek and Scott killed three Alpha pack members and freed Erica and Boyd, the attacks stopped, but someone is watching you, tracking you and you are not safe."

Peter and Derek both heard her heart rate rise as her eyes widened, "Why? Why would someone want to hurt me?"

"We are not sure," the Sherriff stands, "that is why we are telling you this now, it is time to stop hiding this from you, you need to be aware of the threats in order to fight them. If Peter is right and the Alpha pack has been after the Daughters of Cerridwen then there is a reason and now they are after Derek just as much as you because he was responsible for the deaths of their own." Putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, he continued, "Lydia," he said in a soft fatherly voice, "We found a body last night in the woods off the highway. She had been there about a month; she had been uncovered as if a storm had blown the dirt and leaves away."

Shaking her head, she shifted the baby to the crook of her arm, "It snowed last night, that doesn't make sense, how could her body have been _un_ covered?"

"We think you did it Lydia," Deaton steps forward again and Lydia is starting to feel very claustrophobic, "Did anything else unusual happen?"

Shaking her head against their words, she snapped, "You mean other than the mystical magical wedding that I didn't know I was having or the sparks and magical hand binding or the fires and snow, or Jacob's eyes or how the Sheriff knows about werewolves or Derek _laughing_ or anything _else_ that has happened in the past 24 hours."

"Jacob's eyes?" Peter asked, looking at the baby now, reaching out to touch the child the baby opened his eyes and Peter is shocked to find his brother's eyes staring back.

"Oh my God, he," he looks to his nephew and then back at the baby, "Did you do this?"

"How could I change a baby's eye color?" She asks.

"Under the power of the blue moon, in a binding circle, you could do a lot," Deaton pointed out.

Rolling her eyes, Lydia looked at the Sheriff—the only person currently making any sense to her—and asked, "Okay, what do you know about this body? If I magically unearth her, who is she?"

Taking a deep breath the Sherriff crossed his arms, "Well we were hoping that you could help us with that. She had no id and she has not matched any missing person's reports in the North West. She was found partially nude and slit open from her chest to her groin. It is obviously a homicide but there is very little evidence. The body was," he paused, "Desecrated and it looks as if she might have been pregnant."

Her eyes widening, Lydia held the baby tighter and looked to Derek it, "Desecrated how?" Her voice shook.

"Um, her eyes were removed," The Sheriff explained gentle.

Turning her shocked gaze at the lawman she announced, "I need to see her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	18. Show and Tell

"I need to see her," Lydia commanded.

"Lydia, she is not," Deaton started trying to dissuade the girl from looking at the body.

"She is like me, and someone killed her for that, I need to her," Lydia cut him off, looking intently at the Sheriff who nodded gently, "She is at the morgue, follow me and I will take you to her."

With that the group quickly exited the vet's office and climbed into their various cars. During the short trip to the morgue, Lydia held Derek's hand in the car and never broke her gaze from the road. As he parked the car, she squeezed his hand and turned to him with wide scared eyes, "Do you want me to go with you?" He asked gently.

"Would you?" She asked, a bit shocked at the offer. Nodding he opened the door and climbed out of the car, Lydia exited with a sigh, grabbing Jacob before letting the Alpha lead her into the building where they met up with the others. The Sheriff led them down a long corridor and stopped outside of a large metal door. The whole building was cold and smelled of decay and industrial strength cleaners, Lydia suppressed a grimace at what it must smell like to Derek and Peter.

"This is it," John indicated the door, "The M.E. hasn't done an autopsy yet but she is still not in great shape." He warned. Nodding, Lydia looked warily at the three men standing in front of her, crossing to the Sheriff, she all but forced Jacob into his arms before turning to take Derek's hand and pushing the door open. Looking down at the baby in his arms, John seemed uncomfortable for a moment before adjusting the squirming infant a bit and smiling down at him.

Entering the room, Lydia represses a chill as she spots the body on a metal gurney in the middle of the room. There is a white sheet pulled up to the girl's chin and everything is eerily sterile and cold. Feeling a warmth pass through her when Derek squeezes her hand she offers him a small smile before dropping his hand and moving forward. Understanding that she needs to do this by herself, he hangs back, standing by the door to give her space.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Lydia crosses to the body. Light brown hair is fanned out around her face, a face that is delicate and unnaturally pale. The absence of her eyes is jarring, but it is the rough darkness of the decaying skin and odd grey tint of the face that has Lydia fighting to focus. She os dead, the woman in front of her is dead. Someone murdered her. Fisting her hand in the sheet unconsciously, Lydia's eyes are drawn down when the white cloth falls away.

The body is nude, obviously had been cleaned but the gapping tear from the top of her abdomen to her pelvis was still raw and ragged. Gasping, Lydia first brought her hand to her mouth and then, as she felt Derek's hand on the back of her neck to stead her, she reached for the wound, a morbid fascination developing in her mind.

Upon contact with the corpse, Lydia felt an overwhelming cold pass through her, colder than anything she had ever experience and suddenly, her eyes rolled closed. As she opened them, she was face to face with the woman again, but this time the girl was standing in front of her, clothed in a floral dress that seemed too big for her small frame, Blood was seeping through the fabric and a black ooze was weeping from her empty eye sockets.

"They took my eyes," the specter whispered, her voice hollow and seemingly echoing in Lydia's head.

"What?" Lydia asked, still shaken by the talking corpse and the sudden absence of Derek.

"The wolves, they took my eyes," her hands reached down to her abdomen blindly, "They took my baby and then they took my eye."

"What is your name?" Lydia asked, trying to be practive and not lose herself to this woman's tradedy.

"Amber, my name is Amber and I was going to have a little boy. They showed up and murdered my companion and then I tried to run, but they caught me and they cut out my baby."

"Who is they? Who took your baby?"

"The dark ones, I saw them coming, I have the gift of sight, precognition, all of the women in my family do and I saw the darkness coming for us. I couldn't protect anyone," Her voice sobs and the black ooze increased.

"I think," Lydia took in the image before her, "I think I have your baby. He was on my Alpha's doorstep and he called to me. I answered and I have been taking care of him."

"Really? He is safe?"

"Yeah, he is safe and beautiful. He is a month old."

"You are like me? A daughter of moon goddess?"

"Yeah, but I just found out," Lydia admitted.

"Protect him, always, he is your baby now and you have to keep him safe." The image in front of her flickered in a terrifying way, grabbing Lydia.

"Of course, I will protect him with my life, my pack will protect him," Lydia vowed.

"Good," the woman released her, "Protect yourself too, he is going to need you. They will come after you too, they will come after all of us."

"Who?" Lydia asked in frustration.

"THE DARKONES!" The spirit growled, "They think that the wolves alliance to us is a betrayal of their natural pack state, that we wish to dominate them, and that the only way to break our hold is to kill all of us and any of the tainted children that we produce. We can't turn so we are not worthy of life." Turning suddenly towards the spot where Lydia knew Derek was stand the woman said, "Your Alpha is a good Alpha, strong and loyal?"

Not sure if it was question or statement, Lydia nodded, "Yes he is wonderful, he loves your son like he was his own and he will die to protect him."

Nodding, the pale woman turned again, this time toward her own body, "Good," she said, her voice becoming thinner, "He may have too."

With those unsettling words she vanished and Lydia found herself in darkness, pushing her eyes open, she realized that she was cradled on the floor of the morgue in Derek's arms as he held her close. Seeing her eyes open, he pressed a frantic kiss to her forehead, "Oh thank God, you scared the shit out of me." He ran his hands over her face and hair, reassuring himself that she was okay.

Sitting up a bit, Lydia found herself dizzy, cradling her head, she looked up at Derek, Amber's words replaying in her mind. Using his eyes as an anchor, she stilled her world and lunged forward, kissing him deeply. Pulling back, panting a little, she asked, "Can we go home now?" Her voice weak and small belaying her exhaustion at the day.

Derek pulled her close to his chest, listening to the steady drum of her heartbeat to calm his fears about what had just happened. Smiling a bit to himself as he lifted her from the ground, he thought to himself _Only Lydia could stay completely even keeled while unconscious in a morgue._ Pushing through the doors, the priestess in his arms, Derek only nodded to the other men before walking passed them and toward the exit. The Sheriff follows the Alpha closely, still cradling Jacob in his arms. Deaton and Peter fall in line behind them. Derek situates Lydia in the passenger's seat of his car before turning to the Sheriff and taking his son so that he can put the baby back in his car seat.

"She saw something, but I think she needs a few minutes to pull herself together. Follow us to the house and we will discuss everything with the pack there." The Sheriff nods and Derek spares a look at his uncle, knowing that he heard the conversation and knows to follow them. Peter conveys the message to Deaton as Derek starts the car and leads the strange convoy to the house. In route, he calls Erica to make sure that the pack is still there as Lydia requested, she confirms that they are. Once he hangs up, he looks beside him, Lydia is resting her head against the glass, taking deep breaths with her eyes closed.

"Are you going to be okay?" Derek asks, concerned about what happened to her in the morgue and about the information that they found out today.

Sighing, Lydia turns her head a bit and half opens her eyes, "I will be," she gave him a soft smile and closed her eyes again. Pulling into the back of the house, Derek cut off the car and said, "Isaac, I need some help," within seconds, the back door flew open and the young wolf was bounding down the stairs, looking sharply in the car at Lydia, still leaning against the window, Isaac took a sharp breath, "What's wrong?"

"She is okay, Isaac, we will explain everything inside," leaning into the car, Derek unhooked Jacob's seat and handed it to Isaac, "Now take the baby inside and round up the pack, we have to discuss something." Looking down at the baby in the carrier, Isaac looked to Lydia once more before nodding and making his way back into the house. Derek lifted Lydia from the car and followed him.

As he sat her down on the couch, she shivered at the loss of his warmth. Sighing again, she spoke, "Bring Jacob to me, please, I just need to hold him."

Nodding Derek stood and took the baby from the carrier where Isaac had sat him on the coffee table. Smiling down at the baby as he grabbed his fingers in his tiny fist, he lowered the boy into his mother's arms and watched as her whole body relaxed as the baby tucked his head against her chest, his wide green eyes looking with hers.

"You know, I know that he can't really see much right now, but every time he looks at me, I think he sees me, knows who I am."

"I think he does too," Derek whispers as he leans over and runs his hand over the baby's head. The pack filters in, settling in the chairs around the room. Erica brings Lydia a cup of tea and the priestess smiles her thanks before taking the tea, the warm beverage doing less to calm her nerves than the pack that was now surrounding her. As Jackson silently took a seat on the floor in front of her and Derek sat to her right, Jacob snuggled against her chest, Lydia felt completely protected. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but the pack was her safe place to land, something that she had never really had before.

Taking a deep breath she took them in, shocked to see that Allison was sitting in the chair by the fireplace, Scott perched beside her. Reading her face, the young hunter sat forward and touched her knee, "You are my best Lydia, where else would I be? I have made a lot of mistakes, and everything that Erica and Stiles said was true but I want to make it up to you all. I will protect and hopefully, one day, I will earn your trust again." She said her voice strong and clear but her vulnerability clear. Lydia nodded but said nothing for a moment.

"What did you find out from Deaton?" Stiles asks, chewing his thumb nail and pacing.

"A lot," Lydia begins, "There is a lot more going on than we thought, the Alpha pack is here but they may actually be here for me." She sighed.

"What?" Scott asked, "Why would they want you, how do they even know about you?"

"I am not sure, but well," She looks to Derek who subtly nods, "Guys can you come in and explain this part, I think it would be clearer from you." At her words the back door opened and Deaton, Peter and the Sheriff walked in quietly. Stiles stopped his pacing and blinked a few times, "Um Dad, what are you do here? I mean, you aren't here to arrest anyone right?"

Chuckling a bit, John crossed to his son and rested his hand on Stiles, shoulder, "No son, I'm not here to arrest anyone. I am here to explain some things. I think that it is time that we all stopped with the secrets; they are just leading us to danger now."

"Secrets, wait, what secrets," Stiles chuckles nervously, looking around at his pack quickly before looking back at his father who is just smiling indulgently.

"Werewolves son," John answers and Stiles nearly chocks on his tongue before asking, "you, you kno0w about?'

Nodding John pulls his son into a hug, patting his back in a manly hug way, "Yeah, I have always known but until Peter came back I didn't know how much you knew and I wanted to keep you safe."

"Me too," Stiles' voice cracks, "I wanted to keep you safe too."

Smiling the Sheriff moves towards the others, his arm still around his son, "I know son, I know, but now it is time to level with everyone."

Leaning against the wall peter pipes up, "We have all been tracking a series of murders that I think are connected to Alpha pack. They started as random murders, but when I started looking into them, I realized that all of the women that were killed were somehow connected to a pack. Upon closer inspection, I created a hypothesis that they were each priestesses. When the Alpha pack showed up here, we all knew that Lydia was in danger. Jacob added to that fear."

"Wait, what elements were bases for your hypothesis?" Lydia asked, her scientific brain intrigued, "And what drew your attention to the murders if they were spread pout, you said that you connected them to packs _after_ you started studying them."

Smiling, Peter chuckled, "My little priestess you don't miss a beat do you," at her eye roll, he answered, "I have a computer program that flags any crime that could be, well" he waved vaguely, "supernatural. All of these women were mutilated in some way and all of the crime scenes had no evidence. I looked into them and realized that there were established packs in all of the towns. I worked some contacts and found out that most, but not all of them had some connection to the pack but they were all human. Working a hunch, I connected each of those packs to companion blood lines, so,"

"You made the leap that they were priestesses." Lydia surmised, clearly impressed with his work.

"Yes, but I am not sure all of them knew what they were, I think that, like you, several of them were in the dark about their abilities."

"I think you are right, but Amber knew what she was," Lydia said.

"Who," Jackson looked up from the floor.

With a sigh, Lydia answered, "The police found Jacob's mother last night."

"What?" Isaac asked, leaning forward and clearly protective of Lydia and Jacob.

"We found the body of a young woman off of the highway just outside of town. If was unearth last night and a jogger called it in early this morning." The Sheriff clarified.

"Unearth? Like it was buried?" Erica asked, at the Sheriff's nod she continued, "But it snowed last night, how was it uncovered?"

"Well we think that Lydia did that," Deaton begins.

"So she zombie walked out of here and dug up a body 20 miles away before walking to the Hale house and banging Derek?" Stiles snarked, his sarcasm causing Lydia's eyes to roll and Derek to flinch.

"Um, no," Deaton was actually uncomfortable with Stiles' wording, "We believe that when the binding was –sealed so to speak—that Lydia's magic reached out to bring the body of Jacob's mother to light."

"My magic reached out to hers," Lydia summed up, "And she reached back."

"What?" Peter asked.

"This morning, we all were sleeping and she appeared in my dream, I saw her but I didn't know who or what she was then. At Dr. Deaton office, when you said that the body was mutilated," she looked at the Sheriff, "I knew that it had to be the same one, that is why I wanted to her."

"Okay," Deaton was pacing.

"And then when I touched her she appeared," Lydia continued.

"That is where you learned her name," Peter said, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

'Yes, she said that they took her eyes because she saw them coming, she was a precog and that they took her baby," Lydia filled in.

"They cut out her eyes because she was seer," Stiles said, looking to Peter he asked, "Okay Uncle creepy, if all of the women were mutilated, what other parts did they take?"

Reaching into his coat, which was discarded over a chair, Peter pulled out a file, pulling out several sheets of paper her answered, "Heart, hands, another eyes and tongue," he flipped through the reports.

"I am willing to bet they are all tied to the individual priestesses' powers," Stiles says as he takes the file and begins arranging the papers on the coffee table.

"Where were their companions?" Jackson asks from the floor, "And where is Jacob's father if she was his mother?"

"Dead according to Amber, she said that they killed her companion and that he was Jacob's father. She said that they—the darkness—she called them think that the priestesses are enslaving the companions and that we all have to die in order to free the wolves, they think that the wolves are better than being a companion," As if something suddenly click in her mind, she turned to Peter, "That is why you really did it, you bound us because you knew that was their motive." Her voice was accusatory.

"I didn't know for sure but I suspected as much, there has always been a faction of wolves how are purest they feel that wolves are a higher life form and therefore should not bow to the Goddess, humans or anyone else. Lydia I know you think that my every move is nefarious but it is the best way to protect you. They will kill you without a second thought, but if you are bound to Derek that means killing an Alpha and that does go against their code."

"Wait, how did you bind Derek and Lydia? I thought you just set up a barrier spell on the preserve?" Scott asked, a little horrified at where this was going.

"Well there is a barrier on the preserve, which by the way is permanent, but the spell bound Derek and Lydia, as in actually bound their life forces, if one of them is killed so is the other one."

"What!" Jackson yelled from the floor, now on his feet, "What the fuck is wrong with you people? I know it sounds great now but what if one of them gets in a car crash or stumbles off a cliff? They both have to die? How does that benefit anyone?" His yelling scares Jacob and the baby starts to cry.

"Jackson stop yelling," Lydia deadpans, "What's done is done and there is nothing we can do about it now, Derek and I will just have to be a little more careful. Right now I am a little more concerned with the _darkness_ that Amber was talking about, if it is the Alpha pack, we have two more to go, but if it not, we need to find out who it is and how to get rid of them."

"I agree," Derek says, looking pointedly at the pack, letting them know to drop this for now. Thankfully they took the hint because Derek knew he wasn't ready to talk about his feelings about this arrangement and he didn't think Lydia was either. Honestly he just wanted a few days alone with her to process all of this but he knew that was unlikely to happen. Looking at Jacob, sill fussing in Lydia's arms he reached over and took the baby. "He is getting hungry," Lydia pointed out. Nodding the Alpha stood and offered her a hand to help her up off the couch. Taking it, Lydia stood and followed Derek up the stairs, leaving the pack to research.

"Where are they going?" Stiles scoffed.

"I think that they have earned a few minutes peace and the baby has to eat so it is a good excuse for some alone time," Erica cajoled him.

"Yeah, just not too much time, I don't want to be stuck doing research while they get freaky upstairs."

"Stiles," Boyd asked.

"Yeah," the goofy boy looked up at the big wolf.

"Shut up."

"Yeah okay, shutting up and researching," Stiles answered refocusing his attention on the case files in front of him. Laptops where pulled out and information was shared, Peter passing around a flashdrive with all of the information that he had compiled so everyone would have their own copy. At this point he was hoping fresh eyes would bring some insight. For the next few hours the pack researched a string of grisly murders and companion history in Lydia's Christmas spectacular of a living room. Looking at the sparkling lights and ornaments, they all just hoped that they could make to Christmas before the bottom fell out of this situation.


	19. Guilt and Discovery

Upstairs Lydia dropped to the bed feeling completely exhausted. Pulling her sweater over her head, she gets her arms tangled in the cumbersome cloth and lets out a frustrated huff while Derek tries desperately to not laugh at her. Settling the baby on the bed, he reaches over and helps her out of the offending garment leaving her in just a tank top.

"Thanks," she huffs looking at the wad of knit bondage before looking at Derek's smirking face and letting out a giggle.

"Anytime," he chuckled as his lifted Jacob into her arms and helped her settle him as she slides her tank down to feed the boy. As the baby suckled, Derek moved to remove her shoes and socks so that she would be more comfortable.

She smiled her thanks and said, "You have been great today and I know that it has to have been hard for you—I mean you got the crazy information dump too and I dragged you in there to see that poor girl," Her voice broke a bit and Derek leaned forward to run his hand over her head.

"Lydia, I needed to be there just as much as you did because I can't let you go through this alone," He kisses her forehead before looking down at Jacob who seems as exhausted as his mother right now.

"You know," her voice breaks his thoughts, "I just feel so guilty, I mean she is— _was—_ like me, and she really seemed to like it, you know being a priestess and,"

"What? Lydia you have nothing to feel guilty for," Derek met her eyes.

"Derek there is a part of me that is glad that she is dead, what kind of person does that make me?" Tears fill her eyes as she looks at him, "I feel horrible that she had to suffer and I cannot even imagine her pain, but there is a part of me that is glad that she died because if she hadn't, I wouldn't have Jacob or you or the pack and I wouldn't even know what I really was. What kind of person does that make me? What am I supposed to tell Jacob one day when I explain all of this—that I was happy his mom died?" She cried and Jacob reached out for her, his tiny hands pressing closer into her skin as he ate.

Taking her face in his hands Derek answered her in a clear voice full of conviction, "You are going to tell him that you are his mother, and you love him more than anything and that while Amber's death was horrible and tragic, it is not your fault and that you did everything in your power to take care of him because she couldn't."

Brushing a stray tear away with his thumb, he continued, "Lydia you didn't kill her and you can't bring her back, but that doesn't mean what you are feeling is wrong. I was relieved that she is dead too, not because I wanted the poor girl to die, I don't want anyone to die, except maybe Peter sometimes," he quirked an eyebrow and she laughed, happy for the break in the tension, "But I would not change the last five weeks for anything, the pack is stronger than it has ever been and I have something I thought I had lost forever—I have a family and I actually have a reason to get up in the morning and draw breath and I have that because of you," looking down again, he added, "And I have son who is beautiful and healthy and that is because of you too."

He smiled, a rare occurrence, "Lydia as crazy and twisted as Peter is, he was right, we are stronger together and Jacob is what brought us together. I hate that Amber died, I hate that this beautiful boy that I care so much for lost his family before he was even born but I will never regret the moment that he came into our lives because for the first time since the fire I can honestly say that I can see a future for myself. He is my miracle, my second chance and I can't feel guilty for that." The open honesty in his eyes almost scared Lydia, she wasn't used to rare displays of emotion from the guarded Alpha so she responded in kind.

Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his, pouring as much passion and care into that kiss as she could, as her tongue slid against his, she could swear she could taste the devotion he had professed. As their lips parted, she pressed her forehead to his, "Thank you, I needed to hear that."

As Jacob released her nipple, she felt him sigh contently against her skin. Looking down, she smiled at the sleepy baby. Brushing her fingers through his dark hair, the baby looked back up at her with his gentle green eyes so like Derek's but without the pain that he seemed to always carrying in his. Lifting the child, she kissed his head before rubbing her nose in his hair, breathing in the smell of baby and the lavender shampoo she used to wash his hair.

"Derek?" her voice sound tired but content now, most of her distress from early dissipated.

"Um?" He tufted, taking in the sight of her scenting the baby—not that she knew that was what she was doing.

"What does Jacob smell like to you?" She asks innocently.

"What?" He is a bit confused as to where this question is coming from.

"He smells beautiful to me, like baby and shampoo and lotion but what does he smell like to you? I mean like actual smells?"

Thinking for a moment, he runs his fingers over the baby's hair and back, "Well I told you before he smells like us."

"Yeah, but what does that mean, what do I smell like?"

"You smell like home," He says without really meaning to, her eyes widen in a soft shock and he continues, "You smell like the ocean, when it is just warming after the winter and it seems clean and new, and like jasmine and morning and milk. Jacob smells like all of those things," leaning forward he presses his nose to the boy's tiny head, "He also smells like me, like wolf. Like the smell of freshly tilled earth and moss and the forest after a rainstorm. He also smells like new—innocence and the lavender lotion you put on him and home. You both smell like home to me." Kissing her again, he slides his fingers under her knees and gently tugs, sliding her down onto the bed. Pulling the covers back, he tucks her in, the baby still cuddle on her chest, now sleeping peacefully.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" He suggests, her eyes already drooping.

"You know what tomorrow is?" She asks through a yawn.

"What?" He looks a bit puzzled.

"The day before Christmas Eve, we need to get the food for Christmas Eve dinner with the pack."

"Dinner with the pack?"

"Yeah, I assume everyone's parents will want them home on Christmas morning, but Christmas Eve can be our day, just for the pack to spend together and do presents and have a big dinner."

"Okay, if that is what you want we will work it out," he kisses her head and watches for a moment as she drifts off to sleep. Gently lifting the baby, he settles him in his bassinette and leaves the room.

Downstairs the pack is working on the files Peter has given everyone, getting themselves caught up on the string of murders and the possible reasons behind the mutilations as well as scouring any information on the Alpha pack. Stilinski, Deaton and Peter where all filling in blanks and answering questions where they could and clarifying information that was dense in the arcane text.

Sighing in frustration, Stiles, ever subtle when it comes to expressing his emotions, throws his book onto the floor, "Okay, so this doesn't make sense!" He huffed as Deaton gently collected the book, muttering about priceless ancient texts.

"What doesn't?" Erica asks, still reading from her laptop, "Because I didn't think that murder and maiming were supposed to be logical."

"But they are," Stiles points at her while pacing making his dad grin.

"Huh?" Jackson is pulled into the conversation.

"A lot of murders seem random because they are acts of passion, they are an impulse within one chaotic moment, but these are systematic killings; the Alpha pack or _whoever_ are hunting these women down and killing them. This is genocide, not homicide." Stiles' dramatic description did little to dissuade the truth of his words—these priestesses were being hunted. From his seat, the Sheriff watched with a proud fondness as Stiles continued his rant.

"But the method they are using is specific, it draws attention," spinning, his arms are flailing as he hits the fervor of his speech, "the whole reason Peter could track them is because of the _way_ that these women were murdered. If you wanted to destroy a group that was spread out and relatively unprotected it would make a lot more sense to make the murders look random—no one will blink an eye at a mugging here, a drive by there—but cutting off body parts, well that draws attention," he scoffs, "I am guessing that the Alpha pack doesn't necessarily want attention so why do it this way? The symbolism isn't worth the press."

"Because they need something from the girls?" Allison leans forward, her face processing Stiles' words, "Maybe they were torturing them?" She suggested.

"No," Erica shakes her head, "The attacks were all precise and quick, they didn't torture them when they dismembered them." Looking closer at the pictures she continued, "The wounds look almost surgical, if this was an act of rage they would be much more jagged."

The brunette nodded and everyone else was a little relived that the two girls were working together without someone ending up bleeding.

"They were taking their talents," Lydia's voice sounds tired as she enters from the stairs.

"What?" Scott asks.

"It has been bugging me since I talked to Amber, she said they took her eyes because she saw them coming, but I don't think it was symbolic, I think that they are collecting the tools of the priestesses talents," Looking around, meeting eyes with each of the pack she exposits, "I think they are stealing their abilities because they want to use them."

"Wait, what?" Stiles gasps as he stills, "Is that even possible? To steal an ability?"

Peter crosses his arms, his face showing pride in Lydia's thought process, "There is a theory, from long ago, that the channel of a priestesses power was the source of the ability and that if another supernatural being consumed that source, then the being could take on the ability."

"Consumed? Like ate?" Isaac asks, completely disgusted with the idea.

"Well, yeah," Peter even grimaces at the image.

"But it won't work," Lydia cuts in, "the source of the priestesses power is in her connection to the Goddess, not a body part. Amber is dead and she still has enough power to contact me," Lydia says, her frustration clear.

"We don't know that," Deaton speaks up, his tone as gentle as always, "I think you reached out to her and then she responded, but the fatigue that you are feeling would indicate that she was using your power not her own."

"Okay if that I true, how did I reach out to her? Until today I didn't know who she was," Lydia huffed as she dropped on the couch beside Derek.

Looking at the priestess, Derek answers softly, "You didn't know who Amber was specifically but you knew who Jacob was so you she existed even if you didn't have a name to go with the idea of her."

"Okay, but I still don't know how that equals me psychically bonding with her and uncovering her body," the priestess scoffs.

"We were talking about Jacob last night," Derek gently reminds Lydia, "I think that is what happened with his eyes, you said," He lets the statement hang in the air because he really didn't want to talk about this in front of the pack, it felt too personal.

Nodding, she followed his logic, "You think just because I said it, I made it happen. But I never said anything about Amber," She was reviewing the night in her mind, trying to remember every detail that didn't involve sex or naked Derek because that was _all_ she had been focusing on up until this point.

"No, but if you thought it," he led.

Sighing, "I did, when we were talking about Jacob, hell _whenever_ I think about Jacob, I always think about the woman who created him and where she is and why she doesn't have him."

"I guess you found your answer huh?" Stiles said softly, breaking into the staring contest Derek and Lydia had going on.

Looking over at the boy she gave him a sad half smile before looking down at her hands, "Yeah, I guess I did." Derek reaches over and takes her hand, tangling her fingers with his.

"But that doesn't explain why you have him," Allison leans forward in her chair. At everyone's agitated and confused looks she continues, "I mean, you found out who his mother is and that someone cut him out of her but not why."

"Amber never said," Lydia tilts her head, "In fact, she didn't seem to know that she wasn't pregnant anymore. She said that she was _going_ to have a boy but she didn't know that he was alive."

"What if she died before he was born?" Boyd said from the floor, "I mean if the Alpha pack wanted to kill her and cut out her eyes to try to steal her power, why would they save the baby?"

"And if they went through the trouble of saving the baby, why leave him for Derek and or Lydia to find? We know that someone covered both their scent and Jacob's scent in the woods and dropped the baby off with the hope that one of you would find him, but why?" Erica asked.

"And who, because I am going to go on a limb here and say this it was not the Alpha pack," Stiles added to their list of unanswered questions. "I mean they don't really seem that interested in find good homes for orphans."

Tilting her head, Erica answers, "True, they would not have helped Amber's child if they saw him as an abomination and they sure wouldn't have delivered him to us, I mean he is what drew our pack together and brought the priestess to us." Looking around at each of her pack members she says, "I think whoever saved Jacob wanted to help us."

"They also saw who killed Amber if they cut the baby of her after the Alpha pack killed her," Jackson's voice is a razor to the warm feeling behind Erica's words, "We need to figure out who saved him because they can confirm who killed Amber—Alpha pack or not—and they may know exactly what they are doing with the parts they are cutting off of the priestesses. If they are trying to absorb their powers I am going to assume that it is not working from the lack of magic wielding Alphas hanging around."

Looking stoically at his and Lydia's combined hands Derek nods, "He's right. We need to find out who brought Jacob here and what they know about the attacks on the priestesses. They didn't just happen by and witness a murder, decide cut a baby out of a corpse and bring him to Lydia and I, they have information that we need."

"If they used magic to block their scent and cover their tracks, we may be able to follow that," Deaton speaks softly from his seat, looking to Lydia.

"Okay, how?" She asks, her voice betraying her exhaustion.

"I need to do a little research and you need to sleep and recharge after the last two days. When I have something solid, we will reconvene okay." Deaton smiles to the priestess before standing, indicating that the meeting was over.

"Okay, but remember everyone, Christmas Eve dinner is mandatory," Lydia says from the couch.

"Yes ma'am," Jackson chuckles as he stands and presses a kiss to her hair before bidding everyone farewell. As the pack broke apart with a promise to not be alone and to be on alert until they are together again Lydia could not contain her yawn. As the door closes behind Peter and Isaac, Boyd and Erica make their way into their respective rooms Lydia drops her head to Derek's shoulder.

"I'm tired," she mumbles into his shirt. Chuckling he surprises her by scooping her up and carrying her up the stairs to the room. She tiredly feeds to baby while Derek showers. Once he returns, wearing sweatpants, his hair still damp, he changes the baby and then puts him in his bassinette before climbing into bed with the priestess. Pulling her to his chest, he presses a kiss to her hair when she whispers, "Their right you know, Peter and Deaton, we are stronger together. That is why this is all going to be alright," as she drifts off to sleep, he can only pray that she is right.

From tree line behind the house, cool blue eyes spark as a vicious smile spreads across an even colder face, _this was all playing out perfectly_.


	20. Showers and Shopping

Chapter 20

The night is thankfully peaceful and when Lydia awakens the next day she actually feels refreshed and rested. Seeing that Jacob is still asleep after his feed two hours ago, she makes her way to the bathroom to shower before everyone else in the house wakes up.

Starting the water, Lydia lets out a sigh as the bathroom starts to fill with steam. It had been a confusing, trying couple of days and all she really wanted to do was lock herself and Derek away for a few days and figure out this situation that they were in, that they had been put in. While she may not have been concerned with labeling things the night of the full moon—mostly because she couldn't focus on anything but naked Derek—now that she was not being affected by the moon or hot naked werewolves she wanted to take a few minutes to catch her breath and process being bound to someone for life.

As she tested the water and started to pull her clothes off she felt a second set of hands helping her tug to t-shirt over her head while the other snaked around her waist pulling her back against a wall of muscle. As lips lowered to her neck, she reached back, running her fingers through his hair as she sighed into movement of his lips on her skin.

"Good morning," she whispered, turning fully to face him, pulling him down into kiss. Slipping his fingers into her underwear, he pulled away from the kiss o lower the lacy fabric from her body, kneeling in front of her, he gently lift her feet out of them. Looking up, their eyes locked and Lydia bent, kissing him again as he rose to his feet, lifting her to sit on the sink. Breaking contact, Lydia panted for breath for a moment before looking pointedly at his sweatpants, "Someone is overdressed," she whispers.

"Wouldn't want that," he murmurs into her ear, biting the lobe before kissing down her throat. Taking matters into her own hands Lydia reached for his hips, pushing the loose fabric down, using her feet to rid him completely of them. Stepping out of his only article of clothing, Derek does not break their kiss as he lifts her from the counter and turns them, stepping into the shower.

Pressing her against the wall, Derek continues kissing the life out of her. Breaking away he roughly runs his teeth over the mark he had left two nights ago. Groaning she wrap her legs around him and pulls him closer, "Can hey hear us?" She asks in a whispered gasps as he lowers himself to his knees, her legs still loosely wound around his torso.

Tilting his head momentarily, "They are all still asleep," he answers against her skin as he runs his tongue under her breast, teasing his way down her abdomen. Gripping his hair, she pulls his head back she almost laughs at the look of confused frustration she finds there, "I want you up here," she explains, cupping the back of his head and pulling up. Looking down once more at her aroused sex, he almost sighs in loss before sliding up her body and kissing her again.

Reaching between them, she grins when he lets out a sharp gasps and she wraps her hand around his hardened cock, digging her nails into the back of his neck as she grips him tighter. "I am going to need you to move this along," she smiles. Gripping her hip, he slides her up the wall a bit and pulls her hand away. Without warning he slams his body into hers, stilling momentarily at her cry before sliding out at a ridiculously slow pace, letting her feel every inch, the soothing tug and pull of his movement ebbing the burn of initial penetration.

Rocking her hips forward a bit, Lydia bit her lip to repress a moan as he continued his torturously slow pace, lowering his head to do wonderful things to her throat. Sliding her nails down his rigid torso, she feels him hiss against her, smiling she clinches her muscles around him, liking the powerful feeling of being able to make him react. Pressing her back further into the tile wall, she changes the angle slightly and two thrust later she is arching forward, biting her lip and drawing blood as her nails dig into his shoulders as her body goes supernova.

Panting as she comes down, her whole body still shaking slightly she give Derek a slight nod to continue when she realizes that he had frozen to let her ride out her orgasm. Even though she is expecting it, she cannot swallow the gasp as he pulls almost all of the way out of her body, the tugging friction sending shockwaves through her sensitive body. As he picks up his pace Lydia fights to stay quiet, her breathy little moans are uttered into his skin as she kisses and licks every inch of flesh she can see.

Moving one hand from her thigh, Derek reaches between them, circling her clit with his thumb, determined to see her cum just one more time. Seeing the red flush of her skin darken and hearing those shallow little moans quicken, Derek presses down hard and thrust quicker until her head is lolling back and her eyes are closing. Leaning forward, he kisses her, swallowing her scream as she comes again and with one more deep thrust he allows her to pull him over that precipice as well. Resting his head on her collarbone, he tries to catch his breath, the power of his own orgasm still sending shivers through his whole body.

Letting out a throaty chuckle, Lydia rested her head against the tile, "That was the best shower ever," smiling into her skin, Derek looks up at her and cannot help chuckling with her, "I completely agree."

Slowly unwrapping her legs from his waist, Lydia held on to his arms for support while her wobbly legs fought to hold her up, sliding his hands around her back, he held her close, kissing her thoroughly. Pulling back she smiled, "You better stop that or we are never going to make it out of the shower."

They quickly rinse off, their fingers never leaving each other's skin, laying little kisses and caresses as they went. Just as the water starts to get cold, they turn off the water and climb out of the shower. Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist, Derek grabbed another one and turned to Lydia, wrapping the towel around her shoulders, he used it to pull her to him, kissing her again, "Mmmm," she smiled against his mouth, "We have got to get out of here and if you don't stop that or I will never get dressed."

"That sounds like plan actually," he smiled back kissing her again but tucking the towel around her.

"Perhaps, but it would make grocery shopping today a bit awkward," she smiled back as she made her way back into their room. Derek charged her, scooping her up and kissing her before tossing her on the bed. They both giggle and kiss a bit until Jacob let out a squawk. Sighing, Derek pressed a kiss to her forehead before getting the baby and changed him before handing him to Lydia and moving to dress himself. After feeding the baby, Lydia got dressed and put together a list of what they would need from the store for the feast she had planned for Christmas Eve dinner.

After making an impressive and elaborate list, Lydia packed up Jacob and all but dragged Derek to the store. Once they arrived they were the very picture of a young family, holding hands while they shopped, baby bundled in his seat where it was clipped to the cart. It wasn't until Lydia wondered off to check the produce with the efficiency of a military dictator, leaving Derek with a list of dry goods and strict instructions for collecting the rest of the ingredients that things got weird.

"For someone who doesn't cook she sure is bossy," Derek muttered to Jacob as he pushed the baby to another aisle looking for 'fresh cranberry and blood orange reduction sauce'. It was there that he caught a smell that was oddly familiar over the stench of decaying produce, wax and floor cleaner. Before he could even process who it was or why they smelled so familiar a small woman with dark blonde hair filled his line of vision. While they had never met, he knew instantly that the woman smiling down at Jacob with fake adoration was Lydia's mother.

"Your son is beautiful," she smiled and Derek suddenly understood where Lydia got her demure, flirty act from, he had seen her use that smile on others often before he had gotten to know her. Refraining from saying _If you weren't such a heinous bitch you would know that he was your grandson,_ he simply says, "Thank you," aloofly before putting the package of sauce in the cart and trying to delicately move past the woman.

"He obviously gets it from you, I mean he looks just like you," She reached out her hand to rest it on his arm, stopping his movement and offering an obvious invitation. Looking pointedly at her hand on his arm he answered, "He looks a lot like his mother also."

"Oh I doubt that, I mean look at those eyes, he is a copy of his strong, handsome Daddy," she flirted and Derek felt very uncomfortable, like he had never wanted Stiles to bust in on any moment of his life more kind of uncomfortable.

"Um, I will be sure to pass that along to _his mother,_ " Derek emphasized trying to let her know that he was taken and not interested.

"Well," She moved her hand to his chest, "I don't see her around, so," her smile was venomous, "Hi I'm Carol, Carol Martin and it is just delicious to meet you," she daintily dropped her hand for him to shake.

Looking at her hand, a bit bewildered, "I'm Derek and I'm leaving," he skirted past her to grip the cart so he could find Lydia and get the hell out of this store. It was then that he felt her thin fingers slide into his back pocket, "Here is my card, call me if you ever need anything at all, you know if you have any parenting questions or just need a break."

Choosing not to respond Derek flashed her a look that he hoped said _When hell freezes over_ , and quickly made his way to the front to check out. Spotting Lydia hiding behind an end cap he looked around to make sure her mother wasn't following him before crossing to her. He could smell her tears before he saw them and, not for the first time, he wanted to gut her mother for hurting her. Cupping her face in his hand, he brushed her tears away with his thumb, "Lyd," he started but she cut him off, "I am fine, I just, I need a minute okay." Dropping the items in her hands into the cart, she unclipped Jacob's seat, "I will meet you in the car okay."

Still a little uneasy about it but not wanting to start a fight in the middle of the grocery store, he nodded and handed her his keys before finding the shortest line that he could and checking out.

After packing the trunk with a ridiculous amount of food, Derek climbed into the car and took Lydia's hand as they pulled out of the parking lot. Shooting her quick glances, he is unnerved by her quietness but decides to let her start talking when he is ready. Once they get home, Lydia takes the baby out of the backseat and goes directly inside, leaving Derek with the task of carrying all of the groceries in, looking at the truck of his car, he sighs, "There is no way we are going to need this much food," he mutters as he begins to bring the bags in. Four trips later he is putting everything away. He can hear Lydia taking to Jacob as she changes him and puts him down for a nap.

Putting the final ingredient of Lydia's ridiculous dinner away, Derek walks into the living room where Lydia is sitting curl up at one end of the couch. She looked somehow smaller than normal, her legs tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around herself. Sitting gingerly on the other end of the couch Derek reaches a hand out to push her hair back, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Wiping her nose on her sleeve, she turns to him and then shocks him completely by crawling into his lap and burrowing her face into his chest. After a moments surprise, Derek wraps his arms around her and pulls her closer as he leans back into the cushions of the couch. After a few minutes of allowing him to hold her, she pulls back a bit, "Tell me about New York," she demands and Derek quirks his head in confusion at the shift in mood and the randomness of the request, "Huh?"

"New York," she emphasized, "You used to live there. You said yesterday that 10 months ago you were in school in New York, so tell me about it."

"What do you want to know?" He asked, a little amused at her ability to pick up on the smallest details in a complex situation and focus on the ones that don't seem to matter.

"Well start at the beginning, why New York?"

Sighing, Derek allowed his mind to drift for a minute to the five years he had spent out of Beacon Hills, "Um, well you know that my family died in the fire, Peter was the only surviving adult and obviously Laura and I couldn't live with him so DSS tracked down our aunt in Rochester and she agreed to take custody of us."

"I guess you couldn't have gone into foster care huh?"

"Not really, especially not then, I," he looks down at her and wonders, not for the first time, how she got him to talk about this stuff, "I was a mess after the fire, especially after I found out that Kate," he sighed again, "Well, I had a very hard time focusing my rage and full moons were ugly for a while."

Pressing a kiss to the skin exposed by his v- neck Lydia asks, "What made it better?"

"Time," he admitted, "And my sister. Laura was in just as much pain as I was but she was just so much stronger, I mean she anchored herself and kept me from hurting myself or anyone else. She took care of me. My Aunt Sonya was great but she didn't know the whole story and she didn't know how to deal with a 15 year old boy who was crumbling under the guilt of having cost everyone he loved their lives."

"Derek," Lydia began, but he cut her off, "No, I know that I didn't light the match, but I did allow Kate to manipulate me into giving her information and details about the pack that cost them their lives. It is my burden to carry but at that time it was crushing me. Laura held me together and eventually we started becoming part of Aunt Sonya's pack and life got a sense of normalcy again."

"She sounds pretty amazing, your sister," Lydia comments and Derek smiles softly, "She was," as he pulls Lydia closer.

"So where did you go to school?" Lydia asked after a minute or two of silence, her academic curiosity killing her.

Looking at her and scoffing he smiled, "Just want to make sure I am not too stupid to be stuck with forever?"

"Well you are pretty so that can make up for dumb for a while but," she teases.

"Pretty? Really?" He scoffed.

"What you thought I was the looks of this relationship? No sir, I bring the IQ and strategy, you are just there to smile and distract the enemy with your beauty." Tightening his hold on her waist, he flips them over and starts tickling her mercilessly.

"Okay, okay, stop," she pants between giggles, "I give up, I can be the pretty one too, you can be the brute force," she gasp out.

"Brute force, I can do," he laughs, kissing her exposed throat.

"Yeah but you are breaking it to Boyd because strong and silent that is totally his thing," she says seriously counseling Derek to start laughing all over again, "But really, what school?"

"NYU," he admits and she raises her eyebrows impressed, "Okay, what major?"

"Architecture," he smiles, wondering where she is going with this.

Nodding Lydia asks, "How far are you from graduating?"

"I actually graduated in May," he admits.

"What? You were here in May and you should have a year left."

"Yeah but I started college early because we were homeschooled in New York so I finished when I was 16 and went to college. When Laura left New York to come back here I was in my Senior year, when she died I arranged to finish the rest of my classes through Skype or online. My advisor knew that she was my only family and he was in friend of Aunt Sonya's pack so he pulled some strings. Technically I graduated in May, even if I wasn't there."

"Really? That is interesting," Lydia quirked her head again, "Why don't you have a job?"

Fixing her with a stare, "Well I would but I have to take care of all of you," he laughed as he stood up and offered her a hand off the couch. Pulling her into the kitchen he began to pull things out of the cabinet to cook dinner for tonight, obviously not wanting to talk about this any further. While she let it drop for now, Lydia was certainly not going to let this go and she was not going to continue to let Derek give up his life for the pack.

An hour later Isaac, Erica and Boyd return home from shopping and quickly hide bags of presents before setting the table and settling down to eat. As the boys are doing the dishes, Lydia is struck by how ridiculously domestic everything has become. They have chores and family dinners and talk about each other's days. It occurs to her that each of them have things in their past that they have been hurt by, families that didn't love them enough, but they have created their own and it is beautiful. However, she can't help but think that the other shoe will drop and their perfect little family will be tested. As she brushes her hair and crawls into bed, snuggling close to Derek, she can only pray to the universe that they will all make it through the crucible coming their way.

A sharp wail breaks through the haze of Lydia's sleep, rolling over she looks at Jacob's bassinet and offers the baby a sleepy smile. She gently slides from under Derek's arm and pads over to the baby. As soon as he sees his mother, the baby stops fussing and just looks up at her, his wide eyes taking her in. Lifting the baby she quickly changes him and brings him to her chest. Climbing back into bed, she quietly watches her little boy. Looking to her right, she sees Derek looking back at her, eyes clouded with sleep.

Smiling, she cards her fingers through his hair and he slides his arm over her lap, pressing a kiss to her exposed hip. When Jacob finishes, she gently settles him back in his tiny bed before sliding back under the covers. Derek pulls her to him more out of instinct than rational thought because he is still half asleep. Lydia is having none of that though as she slithers up the bed and presses her lips to his. Smiling against her mouth, he kisses her back slowly savoring the contact. They begin to make out at a lazy pace, fingers sliding against bared skin, mouths locked, neither willing to give up dominance.

Sliding her leg over his hip, Lydia seeks friction to relieve the coiling heat that has been in her belly all afternoon. Pressing forward she rolls them so that she is straddling his body. Grinning again, Derek slides his hands up her bare hips, resting just under the hem of her t-shirt. Just as they begin to give over to the heat building between them and Derek is trying to pull the shirt over her head, Lydia's eyes fly open and she presses her hands against his chest sitting back quickly. Derek is shocked at the movement and at the power of her tiny hand splayed across his chest. Watching her he feels momentarily paralyzed, as their eyes lock, hers begin to glow and she suddenly leans forward, "Someone is watching us," she whispers against his ear, quiet enough that even another wolf in the room would not have heard her.

Locking eyes, he nods minutely and as one they roll to the right, Lydia rolling completely out of the bed onto her feet to lift Jacob out of his bassinet as Derek hits the floor in a fighting stance as the window is thrown open and a shadowed body lands on the floor.

Growling, Derek crouches in front of Lydia, eyes red and face morphed very carefully keeping himself between the attacker and his family. The mystery intruder flips once more and is crouching under the window. The growls cause Jacob to scream out, crying at the fear and tension rolling off of everyone in the room. The door slams open revealing Isaac and Erica, Boyd clearly visible behind them, all in Beta form and ready to defend their home.

Slowly the betas circle Lydia, intent on keeping the priestess safe. As Derek lets out an Alpha growl, everyone is shock when the interloper drops to the floor, kneeling before the enraged Alpha.

"Derek I am not here to hurt you," her voice wafts up from the floor, submitting to the Alpha and pleeing to the man. It is then that her scent hits him, she smells like pack, like family. Leaning forward he grips her arm and yanks her to her feet, the Beta unconsciously closing rank around Lydia even tighter. Inhaling again, Derek whispers, "Cora?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comments :-)


	21. Observations

"Cora?" Derek's voice broke around the word, as if the mere sound of it was ripping open a wound. The petite girl's wide hazel eyes pull him in closer, after a moment she squeaks, "Yeah Derek, it's me."

A low growl fills the room, radiating from Isaac, who is clearly anxious and scared at the new presence in the room and at his Alpha's odd reaction. Isaac moves even tighter in front of Lydia, his first reaction to protect her and the baby. Jacob is still screaming, scared and confused as Lydia holds him to her chest, trying to reassure him even as she watches the bizarre interaction of Derek and this girl.

In a swift movement, Derek pulls the girl closer, lifting her throat to his face and she bares her neck instantly, an instinctive sign of submission. Breathing in her scent deeply, Derek releases a shaky breath and slides his arms around the girl, pulling her into a hug which she readily returns. Watching the two gently holding each other, Lydia feels a bit of her panic ebbing, this is not the person who has been watching them over the past week that has given her so much unease. Running her hand down Isaac's back, she takes his hand and speaks softly, "Isaac, I think it is okay. I don't think she is going to hurt us. Why don't you go put on some water for tea, I know I could use some and I think we are all going to have to relax a little so we can figure this out."

Shuddering a little, Isaac grips her hand, his claws already retracting when she took his hand even though his face was still in Beta form, "Lydia she isn't pack, we can't trust her, I can't leave you and Jacob alone." His words are so determined and sad that Lydia just wants to hug the boy.

"You are not leaving us along. Jacob is safe with me, you know that neither Derek or I will let anything happen to him, I just need you and Boyd to make sure that everything downstairs is safe before we go down there and I am not joking about the tea, I think we are all going to need some."

Sighing, Isaac looks like he is going to argue some more when Erica moves forward and takes his other hand. Releasing the girl, but keeping his left arm around her, Derek turns to face his family, "Guys, you don't have to worry, this is Cora, my little sister," he begins, his eyes wide and full of unshed tears.

"Your sister, as in your dead sister?" Boyd shocks everyone a bit with his uncharacteristically blunt statement, his shock causes everyone to chuckle a bit, "Yeah, my obviously not so dead sister," Derek responds with a smile.

It is then that he notices Lydia struggling a bit with Jacob, who is still screaming, and trying to calm down the Betas. Crossing to her, he gently lifts to baby to his chest, rocking him a bit before looking to Isaac, "Isaac, will you please go check the downstairs with Boyd, make sure to sweep the tree line and secure the house when you come back in. I don't want anyone else watching us. Erica, call the others, they need to be here for this too," they all nod at his orders and move reluctantly to the door, both Isaac and Erica running their hand along the exposed skin of Lydia's arms before leaving the room.

Derek watched them and wondered, not for the first time, if they realized that they did this all the time. Whenever one of them was upset or nervous, they would touch Lydia, scenting her. As the Betas left Derek took her in, looking tiny standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but his Henley and her hair tousled from both sleep and his hands. After a moment she moved forward, taking the baby back, "Hey baby, it's alright buddy, it's alright," she cooed, rocking the baby gently and he quickly responded, snuggling into her neck and settling down as the tension in the room and in his mother eased, "That's right," she reassured, "mama is right here and nothing is going to happen to you."

Crossing to her, he pulled her close and pressed a kiss into her hair as the baby drifted back off to sleep. Looking past Derek, Lydia took in the girl still standing by the window; she was small, maybe a few inches taller than Lydia herself, but very thin. Her eyes were wide and a bit sunken, as if she had not been eating or sleeping well and her dark hair and skin were dirty. Her clothes were threadbare and looked dirty as well as being damp from the snow outside. Where ever this girl had been, she had not been well taken care of and from her body language, it was clear that she was as scared about this meeting as the rest of them were shocked. Handing the baby to his father, Lydia crossed to the girl and reached for her, causing the brunette to flinch a bit.

"I am not going to hurt you, Cora, is it?" She promised, her voice soft.

Nodding, Cora made eye contact and Lydia could see that her eyes where darker than Derek's but they still had hints of mossy green in their hazel depths.

"I'm Lydia, it is nice to meet you, even if it did give us a bit of a shock with your arrival," she smiles, still approaching the girl as if she is a feral animal, because truly that is what she could be for all Lydia knows.

"You too," the girl responds with a small voice, after a moment she tilts her head, "You smell like pack, but you're not a wolf," she stats, her confusion clear. Looking to her brother for an answer, she sniffs Lydia again, "You're a priestess?"

Nodding Derek moved forward, still unconsciously rocking Jacob, "Yes, Lydia is a priestess, she is also pack, she is my," he looked to Lydia, still unclear on what to call her, "my mate, I guess."

Looking to the baby in his arms as if she were noticing him for the first time, the girl nodded and looked back to the redhead as if she were examining her.

Needing to break the girl's slightly unnerving scrutiny, Lydia spoke up, "Erica is calling the rest of the pack, but we have got a few minutes, do you want to take a shower before they get here? I will get you some fresh clothes and I am sure we can put together something for you to eat," at the mention of clean clothes and food a spark lit in the girl's eyes and Lydia took her arm gently and led her across the hall to the bathroom and brought her two fluffy towels, a toothbrush and pointed out all of the necessities, "We will be right across the hall when you are done okay," she reassured her and Cora nodded, "Thank you Lydia," she gave the redhead a weak half smile that reminded her so much of Derek.

Returning to her room, Lydia closed the door behind her and moved to the dresser, pulling out yoga pants and a long sleeve shirt before pulling on a pair of yoga pants herself and pulling the Henley she was wearing over her head. Watching her controlled movements, Derek observed her with a sense of both awe and trepidation, "The shower started so she can't hear us, what do you want to ask?" Derek asked Lydia from where he had settled at the end of the bed, still holding Jacob.

Sighing, Lydia pulled on a bra and pulled a clean t- shirt over her head before turning to face him. "How are you doing with this?"

"You mean in general or with the fact that my little sister, who I have thought was dead for six years just crawled through my window in the middle of the night?" Shooting him a look that said she was far too tired for sarcasm, Derek sighed, looking down at the now sleeping baby before looking back at her, "Honestly I don't know what to make of all of this right now Lydia. I mean, all I have wanted for the last six years was for it to not be true, for the fire to not have killed everyone I loved, but every day I wake up and it is _still_ true. They are _still_ dead. The nightmare never ends. I can't say that there isn't some part of me that is ecstatic beyond belief at seeing her, but the other part of me, the rational Alpha part of me that knows I have a home and a family to protect, that part can't trust this. I have seen hope perverted too many times to trust this for too long." Letting out a long breath as she climbs onto the bed and into his lap so that she can face him, "Lyd, she was gone for six years. She was only eleven when the fire happened, where the hell has she been for six years? She sure as hell wasn't alone, she would have never survived."

Taking his face in her hands, she leans forward and kisses him, "I don't know the answers to those questions, and they are good questions, but we are just going to have to ask her and listen to her answers and figure out what is going on. She is not the person who has been watching us, I can tell you that much, but I get the distinct feeling that her arrival isn't completely coincidence either."

Locking eyes he nods, "Yeah I know, nothing in our lives is coincidence, and my long lost sister showing up at the same time as the Alpha pack sure as hell isn't one, but like you said, we are just going to have to ask her the questions and listen for the truth. She knows that she can't lie to me so I don't think she will try but I am going to need you to really pay attention to anything I miss because I am not the most objective person here," he admits and she nods, kissing him once more before standing to grab a new pair of underwear and some socks to add to the pile of things for Cora.

Hearing the shower cut off, she carries the clothes across the hall and leaves them outside of the door. Knocking, she says, "Cora, it's Lydia I left some clothes for you outside of the door and I am going to go put together something for you to eat, just get dressed and meet us downstairs in the kitchen."

"Okay, thank you," the girl murmured from the other side of the door and Lydia turned to jog down the stairs.

Once Lydia leaves the room, Derek reaches for his cell phone, he knows that there is one call that Erica would have not thought to make, one call that he doesn't _want_ to make, but also one person who deserves to know about Cora. Dialing the number, Derek looks into the innocent face of his son, seeking comfort and calmness while the phone rings.

"It is three o'clock in the morning, one of you better be on fire," Peter growls from the end of the line. Letting out a sigh, "Peter I need you to come to the house now," Derek says barely above a whisper.

"What's wrong, what happened," Peter demands, an uncanny sound of concern echoing across the line.

"I can't explain it over the phone, just get here." He answers, the exhaustion leaking through his voice as he ends the call. Closing is eyes, he tries to center himself, looking down at the baby once more he stands, grabs a shirt out of the dresser and makes his way into the hall. Opening the door at almost the same time is Cora, now clean and dressed in Lydia's clothes; she looks more like the little girl he thought he had lost six years ago. Looking at him with trepidation, she smiles brightly when he reaches his free hand out to her. Taking it, she silently allows her big brother to guide her down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Lydia is hurrying around the kitchen, heating up tomato soup and collecting the ingredients for a grilled cheese when Derek joins her a few minutes later; Jacob still nestled against his chest and his sister clinging to his hand. Spinning to face him, she offers him a smile and moves toward him, he returns her smile and leans down instinctively kissing her quickly as he lowers their sleeping son into her arms, pulls on the shirt he had carried down there and moves past her to start making the grilled cheese.

Watching her brother interact with this girl, Cora is shocked; the seamless, silent way they seem to communicate is very interesting to her. She can see the sadness, the anger in her brother, but she can also see the connection that he has to this girl and this baby; they make him happy.

Chuckling at the girl's perplexed face, Lydia clarifies, "I am not really much of a cook," she smiles as Derek chuckles, "Yeah, that is putting it lightly, but she can microwave like no bodies business."

"We all have our talents," the redhead smiles and it is clear that this is a common banter for them. As he finishes the grilled cheese, serving up a bowl of soup and plopping both the sandwich on a plate and the bowl in the counter he gestures for his sister to sit.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Lydia asks politely.

"Um, sure, do you have any milk?" Cora asks, still apprehensive. Smiling, Lydia nods and moves to grab two glasses and fill them, sitting one in front of Cora and walking to the door off the kitchen, sitting the other glass on a table in the room. Catching the brunette's confused glance, Lydia smiles, "Milk is Isaac's favorite too, when he comes back in, he will drink it."

Nodding, Cora stares at her plate for a moment before tucking into the food as if she hadn't eaten in days, and the truth was, she hadn't. She tried to not make a mess as she slurped the soup and tried to chew the sandwich without choking.

"Sorry," she mumbles around it, "It is just really good, and I didn't realize how hungry I was," she tried to apologize but Derek only smiled, "Don't worry, you are still a neater eater that Stiles, and he eats every few hours. Here," he drops another sandwich on the plate and she represses a groan. Noticing that he places a plate in front of Lydia too, she smiles quickly at the other girl as the priestess watches her with slight fascination between dainty bites of her own grilled cheese.

Before she can ask anything more, the others return through what seems to be a bedroom off the kitchen, the tall blonde wolf, Isaac drinking the glass of milk that Lydia had left for him. He crosses directly to the young redhead and presses a kiss to her hair, "Thanks," he smiles and it is clear that this a ritual between the two of them. It is also clear that the priestess is important to the whole pack, not just her brother.

"Status report," Derek commands as he cleans up the kitchen.

"Everything is clear in the woods immediately around the house, no sign of anyone on the tree line in the last few hours except for Cora," Boyd reports.

"The pack is on their way," Erica says quietly, Derek nods but before he can respond there is a quick knock at the backdoor and Derek crosses quickly to open it, allowing Peter to enter.

"What the hell is so," Peter starts, but allows his words to taper off as he takes in the stricken look on his nephew's face. As Derek steps aside, Peter is hit by a scent that he never expected to smell again. Stepping into the house and allowing Derek to close the door behind him, he takes in the skinny, damp girl eating at the breakfast bar, "Cora?" He questions, his voice devoid of its usual sass.

"Uncle Peter?" The girl stands, her eyes filling with tears, "you're alive?"

"So are you it would seem," he chuckles, the emotion thick in his voice as he move forward and pulls her into a hug, "My God child, where have you been? How did you survive?"

"A better question is who the hell is she? And why are we all here at three fucking thirty in the morning?" Jackson snaps from the living room, where he, Scott, Allison and Stiles are peering into the kitchen.


	22. Bedtime Stories

"A better question is who the hell is she? And why are we all here at three fucking thirty in the morning?" Jackson snaps from the living room, where he, Scott, Allison and Stiles are peering into the kitchen.

Looking past Peter and Cora, who are still hugging, Lydia smiles wearily, "Guys, why don't we all find a seat, we have a lot to talk about."

As the pack piles into the living room, Scott dropping into the chair by the fireplace, Allison sitting on his lap to the shock of exactly no one, Isaac and Boyd sitting on the couch, Lydia eventually deciding to sit between them, Jacob still sleeping on her chest oblivious to the tension around him. Stiles took up pacing for a moment before Erica tugged him by the wrist and pulled him down onto the floor beside her making Lydia and Isaac catch eyes for a moment and smile. Jackson lurked behind the couch, as if being closer to the door made him more comfortable if he needed a quick exit. Derek propped himself against the wall opposite the couch, his face wary of the information that he was about to receive. That left the open chair for Cora to take her seat, Peter looming behind her, less guarded than any of them had ever seen him.

"So, I return to my original question," Jackson snits, "Who the hell is this?"

"This," Derek ground out, already tired of the Beta's attitude, "Is my younger sister Cora."

"I thought all of your family was dead," Stiles squawked, "With the notable exception of Uncle Creepy the zombie wolf," he nodded to Peter who rolled his eyes in return.

"The what?" Cora looked between her uncle and the human boy.

"Ignore him," Derek grumbles. "Obviously she is not dead, so I guess you should explain that Cora" he looks to his sister, "What happened? How did you survive?"

Sighing, the slight girl stares at her brother for a moment and wonders when he got so broken, she figures it was probably about the same time that she got broken too. Looking down at her hands, she lets out a breath and then meets his eyes, trying to ignore the eyes of his pack of strangers, "You weren't there, you and Laura were on that track trip and so you weren't there. Mom had been cooking all day because everyone one was coming over for dinner and Emily and I were bored."

Peter nodded absently, no one looking at Derek, knowing the guilt that he carried over the deaths of his family. None of them had ever asked about the details of the day or how it was that Derek and his older sister had survived. Honestly, none of them even knew he had other siblings other that Laura.

"I'm sorry, but Emily?" Erica whispered, her voice soft and unsure, afraid to ask the question.

"Emily was our youngest sister, she was six," Derek whispered from the wall, his arms crossed and his eyes locked on the ground.

"Oh," Erica gasps and Stiles reached over and took her hand.

Nodding Cora continued, "We were playing hide and go seek and I was hiding in the woods. I was up in the tree, you know, where we used to meet when we would practice tracking," she looked to her brother who still couldn't make eye contact with her but he gave a small nod. The Betas all reacted to this because they all knew the tree she was taking about as well, it was beside where Derek had buried Laura and it was the one place on the property that they were never allowed to go.

"Well, I was up in the tree and I heard the hunters, they moved in so fast that I couldn't warn anyone, I just froze, I," she swallowed a sob and Peter pressed his large hand to her shoulder, "I smelled the smoke then it was just like everything exploded. Heat and flames and screaming, Oh God," she sobbed and Peter kneeled beside her pulling her into a hug while Derek seem to retreat even further into his own shadow. Lydia and Scott shared a slightly green look, both of them reliving the memories that they had received from Peter and feeling overwhelming pity on the girl in front of them who had lived through it.

After a few minutes she pulled herself together and Peter asked, "What happened after? You were in the tree but the police didn't find you, where did you go?" It was the question they were all wondering but none of them felt they had the right to ask.

"The man came and got me," she said innocently.

"The man?" Jackson scoffed, not quite buying this wide eyed act of hers.

Nodding she continued, "After the hunters left and when the firemen were trying to put out the fire and get people out the man came to the bottom of the tree like he knew that I was there and he said 'it's okay, I am here to help you.' At first I thought that he was a fireman but he wanted wearing a uniform so I was scared. He seemed to understand that I was scared because he just lifted his arms up to me and said, 'Don't worry pumpkin, I am not going to hurt you, I am going to take you somewhere safe.' I believed him and so I climbed down and he carried me off into the woods. At some point I fell asleep and when I woke up I was in a house. There were other people around, none of them were wolves but they were very nice to me. The next day we left and he took me to stay with a woman in Arizona."

"A woman? So she was human?" Scott asked, his face curious.

"Yes, well sort of," Cora started.

"She was a priestess," Stiles states, as if he is putting pieces together. Cora gave the boy a soft smile, "Yes she was, she was a priestess, all of the members of her family were and there were several wolves from local pack that she worked with."

"So that is how you knew what I was?" Lydia asked, her eyes sharply watching the girl even though her body language was relaxed as she held Jacob who was curled into her chest with his little legs tucked under him.

"Yes, you smelled," flushing a little as she flashed her eyes to Derek before looking back at the redhead, "Well you smell like my brother but you smelled like pack and you aren't a wolf so I assumed that you were a priestess." Nodding Lydia gives off the air that she accepts the girl's answer but the way that Derek meets her eyes lets her know that he does not.

"After you went to Arizona did you see the man again? You said he dropped you off with this priestess but did he stay or did he just leave you?" Erica asks.

"He left but he came to see me at least once a month," Cora answered, the fondness for this man showing in her eyes, "He always said he looked at me like a daughter, he would bring me gifts and we talked at least once a week on the phone," she explain, "He kept visiting even after we moved to Oregon two years ago."

"Oregon? You lived in Oregon?" Stiles piped up, as she nodded he continued, "Where?"

"A little town called Bakersville, why?"

His eyes widen at the name of the town, "Bakersville?"

"Yeah, why does it matter?" Cora seemed confused and both Derek and Peter were watching the boy closely.

"Because my Dad identified Amber, she was from Bakersville, Oregon," Stiles answered cryptically and they others all looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Amber, you mean the baby's mother?" Cora asked innocently, looking over at the child sleeping on Lydia's chest.

Pulling her son closer to her chest, Lydia felt a rush of panic as her eyes found Derek's, "You know Jacob's birth mother?" Derek rose from the wall and walked forward, unconsciously putting himself between his sister and Lydia once more.

"Jacob? You called him Jacob after dad?" She smiled at him nostalgically.

"That is not really the point Cora, how do you know Amber and how do you know that she is Jacob's birth mother?" He tried to keep the growl out of his voice.

"I know her because I was raised with her; her aunt is the woman who took me in, the whole family was priestesses. A few months ago we were attacked,"

"By the dark ones?" Lydia leans forward cautiously.

Looking at the redhead slightly perplexed, Cora nodded, "Yeah, that is what Amber called them, the dark ones, she saw them coming but she couldn't protect us. They killed several of the wolves and her aunt so we ran."

"We?" Stiles raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah Amber, Stephen and I, but they caught us and Stephen tried to fight them off but he wasn't strong enough. Amber and I got away but she knew when they killed him. They caught up to her the next day. I had gone out to get food, when I got back she was gone. I tracked her scent into the woods but they had already killed her. They," she sobbed again lifting her hands to her face, "they took her eyes."

Rubbing her knee from where he was kneeling Peter nodded, "we know sweetheart, we know."

"I could hear the baby's heart still beating so I," she looked up at her brother, "I used my claws to cut him out. I just," she shivered a bit, "I knew how much she loved the baby already and I couldn't let him die too."

"So you cut him out and you brought him to me?" Derek asked, his voice think with an emotion he couldn't identify.

"I was bringing Amber and Stephen to you but then, well everything happened and so when I saw the baby's eyes I knew that he needed to be with you."

"But why?" Jackson asked, a chill in his voice.

Locking eyes with the blonde Beta she answered in a controlled voice, "Because my brother is an Alpha companion and I knew that he would protect the baby."

"Yeah but you left a newborn wet and naked at an abandon house in the woods, if Derek had gotten there an hour later he would have died from exposure, that seems like a big risk to take when you could have just brought him here." Stiles pointed out.

Sighing she looked around at the pack, it was clear that they didn't trust her, "I didn't want to contact Derek directly because I didn't know how close the dark ones were to me. They had just killed my friends and I couldn't lead them directly to the only family I had left. I knew that Amber was still cloaking the baby's scent somehow so they couldn't track him so I covered my tracks with a trick I had learned from the priestesses and I went to the old house. I honestly had no idea how to find Derek but Renee, the woman who raised me told me that a priestess will always respond to a companion in need and there have been rumors about a powerful new priestess in Beacon Hills. I knew it was a long shot but if there was a priestess in Beacon Hills then I knew she would know my brother and even if Derek didn't find the baby that she would and she would get him to her Alpha," looking to her brother standing guard in front of the young redhead she smirks, "Obviously I was right."

After a moment Derek sighs and runs his hands over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Okay look, I think that we are all exhausted and perhaps it is better if we compare notes on the dark ones and the Alpha pack after we have a few hours' sleep," looking around the room before making eyes contact with Lydia who nods, clearly making a decision, "Everyone will bunk here tonight, Jackson you can join Boyd,"

"I can double up with Isaac and Cora and take my bed," Erica offers and Stiles' eyes bug out a bit before Erica just chuckles at him, shoving his shoulder lightly.

Nodding tiredly, Derek totally doesn't want to think about that interaction at this time of night, "Okay, Erica with Isaac, Stiles you can take the couch and Scott and Allison you can take my room okay," he look to each pack member and they all nod, standing wearily. Boyd shows Cora to the room she will be staying in for the night and both he and Jackson silently agree that they are going to be keeping a close eye on her. Erica follows them to 'grab something out of her room' and kisses Stiles on the cheek before heading upstairs to join Isaac. Once everyone scurries off, Derek subtly tilts his head to Peter who nods and follows him up the stairs to the bedroom that he shares with Lydia.

With a sigh, clearly not liking the idea of Peter being in her personal space but understanding that they needed to discuss the Cora revelation she marched up the stairs behind the two Hales. Closing the door behind her she enter the room and climbing into the middle of the bed, sitting Indian style and looking at the two men with an expression that said, 'get on with it.'

Crossing his arms, Derek tilted his head at Peter who removed a small totem from his jacket pocket and sat in on the desk before nodding, "No one can hear us now," he explained.

"So there is a lot missing from that story," Derek starts and Lydia lets out a breath, relieved that she was not going to have to point that out.

"I agree, for one who the hell was 'the man' and how did her know that she was hiding in a tree?" Lydia asked.

"He could have just been searching the woods for anyone who survived and stumbled across her," Peter suggested.

"Maybe, but still, why would he? He wasn't a rescue worker," Derek paced.

"And he took her to some priestess family in Arizona instead of turning her over to the authorities. Derek, you and Laura were placed by CPS, your location was public record. It seems weird that someone would want to separate her and raise her away from her surviving family members."

"True," Peter nods, "And then there is the matter of why a priestess would have taken in an eleven year old that she had never met."

"Wait, I thought that a priestess would always take care of a companion, I mean I know that taking care of Jacob was instinctual," Lydia interjects.

"True, but Cora isn't a companion," Peter replies cryptically.

"Wait, I thought that," she looked to Derek.

"It is genetic; some wolves are born with a predisposition to become a companion when there is a priestess in their vicinity. I was, Laura was, and Emily was, but Cora was not," he clarified.

"Really?" Lydia leaned forward a bit, "So we have a mystery man in the woods, who seeks out and rescues/ kidnaps the only Hale child who is _not_ a companion and takes her two states away to be raised by a family of priestesses who are then attacked and stalked by 'the dark ones'. So she comes running home but doesn't contact anyone for over a month, yet she does cut out Amber's baby and deliver him to us."

"But why the cloak and dagger? Why not just bring the baby to me herself? She didn't find me, she waited five weeks and then broke in my bedroom window in the middle of the night," Derek continued pacing.

"She is also hiding this man, she said that he helped raise her but she was very careful to not say his name or give any description." Peter's frustration was clear.

"She is afraid we know him," Lydia concludes, "And she is not ready for us to have that information yet."

"Yeah but why hide him? If this is someone we know, why has he been hiding my baby sister for seven years? And why doesn't she want me to know who he is? If he is someone I know then he poses an obvious risk to me or the pack and she is keeping quiet," he lets the thought hang.

"Derek, I am so sorry to say this, but you asked for my opinion and I don't trust her," Lydia said frankly, "I know she your sister, and she is not the person who has been following us but, she is still hiding a lot, her story has way too many gaps in it for me to trust her yet."

"I agree," Peter looks at the priestess, "She is casually doling out information as she sees fit and that doesn't inspire trust in me either."

"Must be a family trait," Lydia snaps bitingly and Peter smiles at her indulgently.

"Well we are not going to solve this tonight, but for now, we watch her and we try to validate the details of her story. Peter, you call the Sheriff and see what you can find out about Amber's family and how all of that played out. Also see if you can find any image of this guy in the photos from the scene of the fire. Lydia and I will mine as much information out of her as we can and we will keep you posted okay." Nodding Peter moves to leave.

"Wait, Peter," Lydia stood from the bed, "We are having a pack dinner for Christmas today. Be here at four," she said the words as a command but it was clearly an invite and an olive branch that Peter neither expected or deserved.

"Yes ma'am," He smiled before ducking out of the door.

Once Derek heard the front door close downstairs, he turned to Lydia who was settling Jacob in his basinet, "You didn't have to that," he says softly.

"No, I didn't but it is Christmas and he is pack, even if I do hate him a lot."

Crossing the room, he pulls her to him, wrapping his arms around her, "You surprise me every day." He pressed a kiss to her lips, "We are going to figure this out."

Sighing she gave him a sad smile, "I know, but Derek, I don't like having someone how I can't rust in the house, with the pack." Looking to the baby beside her, "With Jacob. God, I feel like such a hypocrite, she is the reason I have Jacob and I don't trust her near him," she scoffed and Derek pulled her closer, kissing her again.

"You are his mother and you want to keep him safe, that doesn't make you a hypocrite, it just makes you a good mom."

"Thanks," she smiled, running her hand over his hair, "But really, how are you doing with this?"

Sighing he dropped down to sit on the bed, his hands still resting on Lydia's hips, "I don't know. I, God Lyd, I have always wanted my family back, but I just can't trust this. I mean she is baby sister and I love her but I can't trust her because I know that she lying to me. I really don't know how to feel or what to think. Part of my just wants to hold her and smell her and revel in the fact that my sister is alive, but the rational part of me, the Alpha part knows that she is a potential threat and I don't know how to rectify that."

Kissing his head, she nods, "Okay, for now we can't control any of this so, let's just get some sleep and we will figure it out in the morning. I mean you do have a huge meal to cook in a few hours."

Chuckling, he pulls her into the bed with him, "True." Curling together they fall into a restful sleep, both waking a few short hours later to Jacob's cries.

"Urgh, why is he awake so soon?" Lydia groaned as she rolled off of Derek's chest and he stood, sluggishly to retrieve the baby.

"He can't help that he is hungry," he said, changing the baby, "Can you little guy?" Rolling her eyes, Lydia slides up against the pillows a bit and starts sleepily unbuttoning her shirt.

"I think I am going to go start breakfast for the pack," he says as she starts feeding the baby, "Everyone is here and maybe if I feed them breakfast they will stay out of my way the rest of the day so I can make your feast." He teases.

"That sounds like a great plan," Lydia leans forward kissing him before focusing all of her attention of Jacob who was staring at her with his wide green eyes, "I think that he is excited about Christmas too."

"He is five weeks old, I think he excited about a clean diaper and food," Derek chuckles as he leaves the room. Hearing Derek close the door, Erica climbs out of bed, careful not to wake Isaac and smiles at her Alpha as she crosses the hall to join Lydia.

Looking up as she hears the door open, Lydia smiles to Erica and nods her over to the patch of bed beside her, "Good morning." She says cheerfully.

"Morning," Erica chirps tugging Jacob's foot as she climbs in the bed beside Lydia. After a moment Lydia looks at the blonde next her and quirks her eyebrow, "So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Sighing, Erica drops back against the headboard, "I don't trust her." She admits and Lydia nods knowingly, "Yeah, none of us do, don't worry."

Looking a little shocked at the redhead Erica asks, "Really?"

Nodding definitively Lydia echoes, "Really."

"Oh thank God," Erica lets out a breath, "I thought I was the only one."

"Yeah no, not even Scott trusts her and I think he may still believe Santa."

Chuckling, Erica feels like a weight has been lift, "Good, so onto better news, I think that this pack is the hardest group of people to shop for ever, I mean honestly, what the hell am I supposed to get Derek?"

Quirking her head, "More jeans and boots?"

Chuckling, Erica nods, "A year's supply of wife beaters?"

"Hair products?" Lydia teases.

"Okay, how about Isaac?" Erica leads; both girls look at each other and say, "Scarves!" In unison before bursting out laughing.

"Hey, I can hear you!" Isaac yells from across the hall causing the girls to laugh even harder, both needing the release after the tension of the night before.

Once Jacob finishes eating the girls break off and get dressed for the day. Lydia brings Jacob down stairs and is sitting on the living room floor with him, playing on his play mat when she feels a presence behind her.

"I know you don't know me but I really hate being watched," Lydia snaps, looking over her shoulder at Cora.

"Sorry, I just," the girl moves forward, taking a seat on the chair opposite where Lydia is on the floor, putting her at a distinct height advantage, "You are so good with him."

Fixing the girl with a look, Lydia is saved having to respond by Jackson who barks, "She is mother; of course she is good with." As he comes to sit behind Lydia, clearly a strategic move showing that he has her back against the other wolf.

"Well, I mean Amber is his mother," she says sweetly.

"Amber and I have had this conversation so you have no idea what you are talking about, I am his mother and you would do well to remember that," Lydia corrects coldly.

"You and Amber had a conversation?" Cora asks confused.

"Yes," Lydia says coolly, collecting the baby from the floor and standing, putting herself at a height advantage to the other girl. Their staring contest is broken by the doorbell ringing. Looking around, Lydia looks to Jackson who shrugs, both knowing that Peter never knocks and everyone else who would be here is already here.

"It is a human," Jackson says, moving towards the door, opening it he is completely shocked. Before he can say anything he hears Lydia behind him, "Dad?" she squeaks and the same time that Cora yelps, "Paul?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	23. Chapter 23 Fathers and Daughters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promise I didn't die, real life just won't stop happening. I am going to try to get back to writing, I only hope it will work out.

Chapter 23

Lydia froze, her heart stopping for a moment just staring at her father. She barely noticed Cora squealing and running past her to jump at her father, hugging him happily as she told him how much she missed him. Lydia was trying to remember that last time she had seen him. He hadn’t taken the time to call her on her birthday, he had told his secretary to send her a generic birthday card with a substantial check and Lydia was fine with that. She had learned long ago that neither of her parents were to be relied on for support or love; her mother had proven that when she had kicked her out. As far as she knew, her parents hadn’t talked so there was a good chance that her father did not know about Jacob or her living arrangements but here he was, on her door step, hugging a stranger. 

After a ridiculous few minutes Cora unhanded her father and he looked to Lydia who was staring at him, her default uninterested face in place, he took a step forward, reaching his hand out for her, smiling, “Hello honey, it is so good to see you.”

She recoiled from his touch, her eyes neutral as she asked, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Understanding her discomfort, Jackson stepped a fraction in front of her, putting himself between Lydia and her father.

“Sweetheart, its Christmas of course I wanted to come see you,” his voice was smooth as honey.

“You’ve missed the last three, why would you show up now?” She bit out, adding, “And how the hell did you find me?”

“Well,” he started, obviously shocked by her questions. He was used to her smiling sweetly and accepting the lavish presents that he brought to smooth over his absence. Her sarcasm and cutting words later were usually doled out when her parents attention left her and focused on tearing into each other. But what her father didn’t understand was that Lydia wasn’t that girl anymore and she wasn’t about to let him into the life that she was creating with Derek and the pack and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him hurt her son the way he had hurt her over the last sixteen years. 

“Well what? Mom doesn’t know where I am so I know she didn’t tell you, not that she would or that you would ask because neither of you are that involved. Honestly I don’t think you knew I wasn’t living with her still. So that leaves Cora here,” She cut her eyes at the brunette who was watching the priestess with a mixture of shock and confusion, clearly not understanding her venom at her father, “I am assuming that you saved her all those years ago and delivered her to a foster family to raise her and played the fun uncle.” Her father’s eyes widened as she continued, “Oh Dad don’t look so shocked you used the same tactics on her that you used on me—presents and smiles a couple of times a month to make up for being absent the rest of the time.”

His eyes turned sharp as he cut her off, “Lydia, no one likes jealousy.”

Laughing bitterly, she cut him off, “Oh please, Lydia Martin does not do jealous and trust me, you are nothing to be envious over. You have missed the past three Christmases, four birthdays and every other holiday. I had to think about the last time I actually saw you and you know when it was? When I was attacked and left for dead in a field. You came to the hospital because your secretary read about it in the paper and you didn’t want to lose face, but really you knew what had happened and you wanted to know what? If I would die? If I was a priestess? What? Because you sure as hell didn’t care about me. I was missing, naked and alone in the woods for two days and you never even tried to find me.”

“Lydia, the authorities were looking for you,” He tried to argue.

“Yeah, the police were, Stiles was, the pack was, hell the Lacrosse team was looking for me, but my own father could bother to join the search or to even to stay in town until I was found. I went home, terrified and thinking I was losing my mind, to an empty house.” Her voice was starting to crack now and Jackson turned and pulled her into his arms, hugging her and guiding her into the house.

Sitting on the couch, Jackson hugging her and Jacob wigging against her chest she felt infinitely calmer than she had a few moments before. Sighing against Jackson’s shoulder she smiled, “Thanks,” she whispered, knowing that he could hear her. He nodded and released her, sitting back but keeping his hand on the small of her back. 

Not looking up from her son’s calm green eyes, Lydia asked, “Well, are you going to give me an answer or are you going to try to buy your way out of this too?”

Hearing her father sigh, she knows that he has entered the living room, Cora his shadow at his side. “Lydia, I made a lot of mistakes but I did want to know if you were safe. When I heard about the attack I knew it was a werewolf but I didn’t know if you were a priestess or not, it’s not like there is a test or a birthmark that lets us know. I needed to know if you were going to shift, at first it didn’t look like you were going to but then you disappeared on the full moon and I thought that maybe,” he let the word hang.

“Hmm,” she nodded, “and why didn’t you tell me, you know, _ever_ , that I was potentially a priestess or that werewolves existed?” She snapped and Jacob whimpered. 

“Honey, I didn’t know if you were going to be a priestess, your grandmother was dead by the time you were three and only women are priestesses so I never knew all that much about it or how to spot the signs. By the time you were old enough to start working with a pack the Hale pack was gone and as far as I knew there were no wolves in Beacon Hills.”

“As far as you knew, because you took Cora away to a family of priestesses, but what about the wolves in every other place on Earth? I am a priestess, I could be in danger anywhere that there were wolves, particularly now and you never told me, you never prepare me for the threats that my life holds. If I would have died on that field it would have been your fault because you didn’t warn me about what goes bump in the night. You didn’t tell me that I needed to protect myself from Peter Hale or any other freak out there that would love to hurt me.”

“Peter?” Cora gasped.

“You missed a lot little sister,” Lydia snapped before looking back at her father.

“Lydia, I didn’t want to needlessly scare you, how could I have known that,” he started condescendingly reprimanding her anger.

“You should have known that I was at risk by not knowing what I was! You should have known that I needed the truth! You took Cora 1500 miles to get her away from this place and the threats it posed and she didn’t even need your protection but you left me stupid and blind and I almost died for it!” She yelled causing Jacob to startle and start crying loudly. 

Looking to the child for the first time, it was like her father had just noticed him, “Young lady you have no right to play indignant brat now,” Paul Martin yelled back at his daughter, his face flushing with anger.

At this point Derek, who had been in the kitchen listening to the confrontation but not intervening because he knew that Lydia needed to confront her father and that him running in to defend her would make her feel like he didn’t think she could handle this, decided it was time for him to enter the fray. Pushing the door open he walked directly to Lydia, lifting Jacob out of her arms and rocking him, trying to sooth him. 

Looking up at Derek, her eyes wide and grateful through her building tears, she whispered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare him.” She stood, feeling helpless as he calmed the baby.

Running his hand over her hair he smiled, “He is just upset that you are upset, you know that. He is going to be fine,” he ran his thumb over the baby’s feet, and held him over his heart, the sound calming the child, “That right buddy, everything is okay, your mama is okay,” he whispered and Lydia stood in front of him, completely out of her father’s line of sight, running her hand over Jacob’s back, reassuring the baby that she was okay.

Looking up at Derek she smiled, “Thanks, but he is getting hungry so,” she smiled at him and he smiled back, lowering the baby into her arms and watching her as she turned and left the room, trotting up the stairs to go feed the baby in her room in peace. She needed a few minutes to clear her head and put on her game face if she was going to deal with her father.

Once he heard the bedroom door close, the grin dropped off his face and he turned to face Lydia’s father. He felt Jackson stand behind him and something in his heart swelled at the aloof Beta’s instinctive need to protect Lydia. He knew that their situation was weird, that essentially he was sleeping with Jackson’s ex- girlfriend and that would be a strain on any friendship, add to that the fact that both of them were kind of dicks and they had no reason to trust each other, but Derek knew how much Jackson loved Lydia and he trusted that. 

She had explained to him, late one night when Jacob didn’t want to sleep so they cuddled him between them and just talked most of the night, about the resolution of she and Jackson’s relationship after she saved him from being the Kanima. They both loved each other, but they were not in love with each other anymore. However, Derek had seen firsthand how dedicated Jackson was to the petite redhead and he knew, companion or not, he would always have an ally in protecting her in the young beta. 

Crossing his arms, he observed the man in front of him; he was an inch or two shorter than Derek, and it was obvious that he took great pride in the image he portrayed to the world. He almost chuckled at the way the older man tucked his shoulders back and flared his nostrils as if he could intimidate the Alpha werewolf. In another situation, Derek may be nervous around the father of the woman he was falling in love with, he may want to impress him, but so far all he knew about this man was that he had kidnapped and hidden Derek’s baby sister for six years and he had made Lydia cry—neither were things that endeared him to the Alpha. 

“Do you speak or do you solely communicate through stares?” Paul snapped, the silence making him uneasy, which was exactly Derek’s point.

“Oh, I can speak, but you seemed to want to get a lot off of your chest so I figured I would let you finish before Lydia came back down because you need to understand one thing explicitly—you will never scream at Lydia like that in my house or you will no longer be allowed in my house. Is that clear?” Derek answered lowly. 

Huffing Paul answered, “You will not tell me how to speak to MY daughter! Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I think,” Derek took a step closer, “That I am the person who is supposed to protect her, from anything including you.” 

“And since you are her self-appointed protector I can assume that you are sleeping with her, well trust me, when this little tryst ends, you are going to regret burning bridges because someone hurt her little feelings! She is just like her mother, a bossy, manipulative bitch! Just ask Jackson here, she” Before he could finish his thought, Derek had him slammed against the wall, his fists knotted in the expensive fabric of his button down shirt.

Cora yelped and tried to calm the situation, “Paul she is his mate this isn’t,” Jackson grabbed Cora around the waist, pulling her back and voice reptilian cold as he whispered, “Be quiet.”

Paul’s eyes widened at Cora’s words, looking to the girl and then back to the enraged wolf holding him against the wall he stuttered, “M-mate?”

Eyes flashing red, Derek all but growled, “Lydia is my priestess, you should know what that means, but she is so much more than that. You will never refer to the mother of my child as any derogatory name and you will not verbally attack her like you just did. Are we clear?”

“Mother of,” Paul looked confused, “You mean, the baby is hers?”

Dropping him and taking a step back, Derek almost laughed at the sad little man, “I guess you didn’t talk to your ex-wife huh? Yes, that baby is your grandson, not that you will ever see him again if you continue to think yelling at his mother and scaring him are appropriate behavior.”

“You said she is your priestess, you are a Companion Alpha,” Paul asked more to himself than to anyone in the room, his shock clear. 

Stepping forward Jackson spoke, “Yes, he is,” the blonde beta chuckled, crossing his arms, “you see not only did you not get any of the Hale Alphas you managed to kidnap the one Hale child who wasn’t a companion. So now you are going to explain why exactly you did that.”

Looking menacingly at the boy, Paul scoffed, “Still defending her even though she obviously cheated on you and is rubbing your nose in her new life.” 

Derek’s growl rumbled through the room making his sister wince but Jackson pushed on, “You have no idea what you are talking about _Paul._ You never understood her or our relationship. I owe Lydia my life and even if I didn’t,” he flashed his eyes at the man, the bright blue startling a gasp out of him.

“ _You_ are a companion?” The man moved towards Jackson, “When the hell did you become a _werewolf_?”

“Right after Lydia was attacked,” Jackson admitted.

Looking to Derek, his eyes filled with horror, Paul whispered, “You turned him?” Derek nodded, looking down at the floor for a moment, trying to repress the shame he felt about Jackson, “But you didn’t attack Lydia.”

“No,” the Alpha looked back up at the man, “I would never hurt her or anyone else. Each of the betas asked for the bite, none of them were forcibly turned.”

“I told you Peter attacked me,” Lydia’s voice echoed from the stairs as she entered the room, Jacob no longer with her. “I guess you still don’t know how to listen to me.”

Looking to his daughter as she crossed the room and took Derek’s hand, still standing slightly behind the Alpha, Paul realized how scared she looked of him. Watching the man in front of him look back and have a seemingly silent conversation with his daughter made him feel ashamed at how much he had missed. 

“Is he sleeping?” Derek asked softly and Lydia nodded, her eyes looking into his as he tried to read her face. He was clearly asking if she was alright, if she could do this, after a moment she nodded and he squeezed her hand letting her know that he would support whatever she decided to do in this instance. 

“You're right, I didn’t listen,” Paul said gently, trying to catch his daughter’s eyes around the man standing in front of her, “But I am willing to try. I would really like to hear what you have to say, it looks like I have a lot to catch up on.” He offered her a charming smile that she responded too with a completely neutral countenance. 

Sighing, she said, “Okay, we do have a lot to talk about, but you will answer my questions first and then I will answer yours. If you lie, they will know,” She looked to Jackson and Derek, “And I will stop talking. I have been lied to enough. You will tell me the truth and I will tell you the truth, if at any time you refuse to answer a question or you lie to me this conversation is over and you will leave and never contact me again. Are my terms clear?”

Moving so that he could clearly see her face, he let out his own sigh, “Very, however, this is tit for tat. I answer a question and then you answer a question and you can’t lie either. “

Nodding she looked to Cora, “I wouldn’t dream of it, you have your own little lie detector here. I accept your terms.” With that she turned and sat on the couch, pulling Derek with her to sit on her right side while Jackson settle on her left side, all three of them appearing relaxed but they were all expecting an attack at any moment. Looking around the room, Paul took in the homeyness of the place; comfortable furniture, baby toys and a portable bassinet in the corner and glittering Christmas decorations tastefully accenting everything. 

“Your home is beautiful,” he said politely.

“Thank you,” Lydia responded primly, knowing that it was her father’s way of trying to sway the conversation to something that seemed civilized after his earlier meltdown.

“You said that Grandma was a priestess, but you didn’t know if I was, is it genetic in our family?” She asked, her voice scientifically detached.

Looking down at the area rug, Paul laced his hands together, “Your grandmother was a priestess, as was her sister but her mother was not. As far as I know, it is genetic but it only appears in females and there has to be a pack present for your abilities to activate. Otherwise I suppose it is dormant. Because I was a male and because my father didn't know about the supernatural, I wasn’t very exposed to the practices of the priestesses. My mom and Aunt Maggie hid it from me for a long time and I was never allowed to know all of the details, I honestly do not know why she was reluctant to tell be about her abilities. They worked with the Hales some but the Hales had their own priestess.” He looked to Derek for a moment and the Alpha nodded, “Yeah, my grandmother was a priestess, but she died when I was baby.”

“I know,” Paul answered, “She worked with my mother a few times, mostly doing protection spells and a few times they worked together to defend the pack. My mom grew up in a town with a pack and when she and my father moved her she aligned with the Hales but Selena was always their high priestess. After Selena died, my mom stepped in and worked with your parents a few times, but after she passed, I don’t know what they did.”

“Okay, your turn,” Lydia stated coolly. 

“What is your relationship with Derek?” Paul asked, his voice had an edge to it, his distaste for the situation clear.

Scoffing she raised an eyebrow at her father, “You really want to know the answer to that?” At his cross look she sighed and let the contempt drop from her face and voice, “Fine, honestly we haven’t defined the terms,” she looked to Derek who subtly nodded, knowing that she had to tell the truth, even though they hadn’t explicitly explain this to the pack yet, “We are bound to each other both through the pack and our son but also through a binding ritual.”

“What does that mean?” Paul asked, his frustration filling his voice.

Squeezing her hand, Derek answered, “It means that we are committed to each other. Lydia is my priestess, but she is also my mate. The binding is the supernatural equivalent of a marriage.”

“What!” He yelled, “She is sixteen!”

Feeling Lydia tense beside him, Derek answered, “I know that, but her age does not change the situation and it doesn’t change the connection we share. Do I wish that this could have waited until she was older? Yes, but that is not how things worked out.”

“What do you mean ‘could have waited’? Why did this have to happen?”

“That is another question, you owe me an answer first,” Lydia cut him off softly.

“Fine,” he threw his hands in the air, “What is your question?” Looking to the girl standing dutifully behind her father, Lydia asked, “Why did you kidnap Cora and not the others?”

“Excuse me?” He scoffed.

“You heard me, why did you take Cora to the priestesses in Arizona instead of giving her to CPS and letting her be placed with Derek and Laura?”

“Lydia,” he leaned forward, his voice clearly trying to appeal to the girl he thought she still was, “that is a complicated question that,”

“Just answer me or this conversation is over,” she glared at him. “Why did you take Cora and hide her from her family for six years?”

“I would love to hear the answer to that myself,” Peter says smoothly as he enters the room from the kitchen, his hands in his pockets and his body language relaxed, a perfect contrast to the feral look in his eyes. “So why don’t you share your complicated reasons with us _Paul.”_

“You are not part of this conversation _Peter_ ,” Lydia was confused by the obvious animosity between the two men, she didn’t know that they even knew of each other’s existence but it was clear from the tension in the room that they had some sort of history and Lydia could only think that this was going to complicate things even more. 


	24. Chapter 24 Too Much Truth

Chapter 24

Rolling her eyes at the stare off between Peter and her father she huffed, “Just answer the damn question.”

“What is _he_ doing here?” Paul asked, his gaze never breaking from Peter’s. “I thought he was dead.”

“And that is yet another question but you still haven’t answered mine,” Lydia’s icy tone broke the men’s concentration on each other and both looked at her.

“Fine, I took Cora because I knew that no one knew she was alive. Derek and Laura were on a school trip, CPS went and got them to tell them about the fire and place them with their aunt, Cora was presumed dead so no one would be looking for her.”

“No one would look for her and you could fulfill some sort of deal,” Lydia amended, “You didn’t do this out of the kindness of your heart and you invested far too much time in taking care of her for her to be a one off payment so there is someone else pulling the strings here,” Lydia surmised.

“Is that a question?” Her father snapped, his blue eyes guarded.

Smiling, she shook her head, “Not yet. Your turn, or do you want me to answer one of the questions you have already posed?”

“If Peter was the Alpha who attacked you, how did Derek bite Jackson right after? There can only be one Alpha in a pack at a time,” Paul looked back to the older Hale.

“I see someone has been reading up on the lore,” Peter smiled condescendingly at him and some part of Lydia actually had to respect someone else baiting her dad. 

“I ripped his throat out,” Derek deadpanned, his annoyance with both of them becoming clear. 

“Next question,” Lydia chirped, only to be cut off by her father, “Not so fast, the deal was you answer my questions, not your cradle robbing boyfriend here. So my question is if Derek ripped out Peter’s throat and killed him to become Alpha, how is he alive and standing here? By the way, great choice in a life partner honey, a man who rips out throats and sleeps with sixteen years olds is a wonderful choice for a father.”

Lydia launched herself forward only to be held in her seat by Jackson’s hand grabbing her hip, “Don’t you dare presume to know a damn thing about him or me _or_ what being a good father means,” She yelled.

“While you sit in judgment of me, I would like to remind you that the man I killed had just tried to kill your daughter. He left her for dead bleeding out on the freezing ground to kidnap a kid she goes to school with and at that point we all thought Lydia was going to die. He killed several people, _including my sister_ and tried to kill several more, so it was not like he was some innocent victim.  It was him or me and I don’t regret my decision.”

Taking a calming breath he continued, “However, Lydia is right, you know nothing about us or our relationship and you certainly don’t know anything about our son. And the reason you don’t know any of those things is that you haven’t seen your daughter in months and you are so removed from her life that you didn’t even know where she lived or with whom, so you can keep your parenting advice to yourself.” Derek answered in an even clear tone, his eyes never leaving Paul’s making sure his words could not be mistaken. 

“Peter is alive because I brought him back,” Lydia said flippantly, “My turn.”

“Wait, what? You brought him back? From the dead?” Paul’s face was incredulous.

“Yes,” she answered.

“How?” He looked between Peter and Lydia. Cora, looking just as shocked mumbled, “That is what Stiles meant by zombie wolf,” behind him and Paul jerked around to look at her before looking to Peter, “You’re a zombie?”

Scoffing, Peter crossed his arms over his chest, “Of course not, zombies aren’t real.”

“Oh, in a room full of werewolves I am the idiot for believing that zombies could happen,” Paul snapped back, “How did you bring him back from the dead?” His eyes landed on his daughter.

“That is another question, but I will allow it solely because I don’t know,” She looked down, shifting in her seat, trying to hide her discomfort at the admission. 

“What? How could you not know?” He looks from his daughter, who won’t meet his eyes to Peter who shakes his head, “Oh no, your little deal is with the priestess, not me. I am just here for moral support.”

Lydia rolls her eyes at his antics but continues, “As I said, my turn, so who is pulling your strings? Who told you to bring Cora to Arizona?”

“You make it sound so nefarious; I saved her,” he started, only to be cut off by Derek.

“You saved her?” he scoffed, “ _From what_? She was already safe from the fire. You found her and instead of taking her to the police or the only family she had left, you let us think she was dead for six years,” his anger rumbled through his voice.

“Derek,” Cora made to step forward but she was cut off by her brother turning his angry eyes to her, “Don’t think you get a free pass with this, you were _eleven_ , you knew that Laura and I were alive and you never tried to contact us until now. That I could forgive, but you actively avoided telling me who took you and why last night and then you called him and put my whole pack at risk. You put _Lydia and Jacob_ at risk and I deserve to know why. Hell, Cora you have been in town for five weeks and you didn’t contact me, don’t think you don’t still have questions to answer.” Her eyes widened as she took a step back.

“Derek, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just, I thought that the only way to keep all of us safe was to keep quiet. “

“And now? Why didn’t you just come to me when you got here, why all the cloak and dagger? You said that you were coming here for help,” He stood, taking a step towards her. 

“I was,” She pleaded, “But then I had to watch the dark ones kill my friends and I just wanted to keep you safe. I brought you the baby and hid until I knew they weren’t following me,” she was tearing up, desperate for her brother to believe her. 

“How did you know they weren’t following you?” Jackson asked, speaking for the first time during this little sit down.

“Huh?” She looked at him.

“You dropped off Jacob and hid until you knew they weren’t following you, but how did you know they weren’t?” He clarified.

“Wait. Jacob? Like your baby Jacob?” Paul shook his head, trying to keep up, looking to his daughter, “So you _aren’t_ his mother?”

“Yes, I am his mother,” Lydia hissed loudly, causing everyone in the room to flinch and silence to fill the room for a moment. That silence is quickly ended by the wailing of an infant upstairs. Looking behind her helplessly, she looked to Derek for a moment, “I knew he wouldn’t last long,” she said, Jacob had only been asleep a little over an hour and usually napped for at least two and a half, “He didn’t really want to eat much earlier, he was still upset, so I fed him until he calmed down enough to fall asleep but I knew he would be up soon.” Looking to her father, she sighed, she needed to tend to Jacob, but she didn’t trust her father alone with her pack without her. 

Luckily her dilemma was solved when Erica entered the room, a squalling Jacob in her arms and a hesitant look on her face. “Sorry,” she rocked the child gently, “I changed him but he won’t settle down, I know you’re busy.”

“Thank you Erica,” Lydia crossed to the girl and took her son in her arms, “He is just hungry, you didn’t do anything wrong.” The blonde smiled and went into the kitchen to help the others with dinner. 

“I think someone needs to explain that kid to me,” Paul demanded over the crying infant squirming in his daughters arms. Realizing that his daughter, who is rocking the wailing baby gently and looking around the room for something is going to be no help, he looks to Cora who looks to her brother and sighs, “Fine,” the brunette says, “You remember Amber, Renee’s niece?”

Paul nodded, “The seer.”

“Well I don’t know if you knew, but she was pregnant when the dark ones attacked, she is the one who saw the arrival of the dark ones. When they went after the pack and Renee, we ran: me and Amber and her boyfriend Stephan. They killed Stephan and she and I headed for Bacon Hill. For Derek,” she looked to her brother, her eyes begging that he listen. “Outside of town they caught up to us. Amber had sent me to the store, when I got back she was missing and I smelled blood, I followed it and I found her, dead. The dark ones were gone but I could still hear a heartbeat,” looking to the baby, she added, “His heartbeat. So I cut him out of her and I brought him to my brother.”

“So you are _not_ his mother?” Paul repeated, his voice sounded relieved until he realized that Lydia had found what she was looking for, a baby blanket. As she crossed back to the couch, jiggling the now quieting baby and unbuttoning her top, he watched with a horrific fascination. Throwing the blanket over her shoulder and tucking the child under it, the situation became clear—his sixteen year old daughter was breastfeeding a baby. A baby that was her son. A baby that was his grandson.

“You are starting to sound like Maury, stop it,” she rolled her eyes and took a deep breath as Jacob’s little hands rubbed against her skin, like he was just happy to be in her arms as he ate. “What Cora here is leaving out is that she didn’t _bring_ the baby to Derek, she left him, cold and naked on the front porch of the burned out Hale house in the middle of the night.”

“It was the only place I could think of,” Cora defended and Lydia cut her off, “Why didn’t you try, oh I don’t know, his house? If you were heading to Beacon Hills you had to have a plan to find him, even if you didn’t bother to Google the tax records for either of your siblings, you could have used your nose and found him. It was sheer luck that Derek found him.”

“I was terrified!” Cora yelled back, “I had just seen my friends murdered and home was the only place I could think to leave him.”

“Home? The place where your whole family died in front of you? The place that was abandoned and condemned and let’s not forget, marked by the Alpha pack,” Lydia mocked.

“I am the reason you have him,” Cora snapped, “I don’t know why you are being such a bitch to me! You call him your son but you would have him if it wasn’t for me.”

“Yeah, you brought him here, and I am grateful for that, but he almost died because you couldn’t be bothered to find an actually safe place for him. It was 30 degrees in the woods that night, the doctor said if we would have found him half an hour later he would have died of exposure. So no, I don’t trust your motives and if you think I am being a bitch because I think you should have protected him, I don’t give a shit.” Lydia answered calmly, rubbing Jacob’s tiny feet with her free hand.

“Wait, you both found him? You are breastfeeding him! What the hell is going on?” Paul pleaded for an answer, his face flushing as if he is having some sort of stroke. 

Cutting her eyes at her father, Lydia sighed, “The night Jacob was born, Cora dumped him off on the porch of the Hale house, Derek went there,” pausing she looked at him, “Why were you there?”

Rubbing his hand over his face he looked at her and answered, “I had called a pack meeting. We needed to discuss the Alpha pack so I wanted to show them the tag and we needed to work out a plan to find Boyd and Erica.” Nodding she smiled and he continued, looking to Paul, “I got there first and when I approached the house I heard him crying. At first I thought it was an animal but then I saw the baby. Peter got there just after but we couldn’t find a scent trail for anyone who could have left him and his scent was cloaked. After the pack arrived we were trying to figure out what to do when Lydia showed up.”

“What do you mean? How did she know what was going on?” Cora asked, curiosity overwhelming her annoyance with the priestess.

“I had decided to go to bed early that night, I was tired and I just wanted to sleep,” she and Derek caught each other’s eyes and chuckled, both knowing how little sleep either got that night, “Just as I fell asleep, I felt this tightening in my chest, like an overwhelming fear and then coldness. Then I heard him,” she looked down at the baby, again rubbing her fingers against the exposed skin of his back under his little shirt.

“You heard him?” Cora looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. 

“Yes,” Lydia rolled her eyes, “I heard him crying and I responded. I don’t actually remember walking there, but the next thing I realized, I was at the Hale house. It was so cold and I could hear the baby, but for real now, not just in my head. When I enter the house the pack was standing around him and he was screaming his head off.”

“I could hear him getting weaker by the minute, his little heart was slowing and I didn’t know what to do,” Derek said, his helplessness in the moment clear, “I was frustrated and then Lydia just walk through the door and picked him up and everything was okay,” He smiled at her, reaching out and finding Jacob’s foot and rubbing it, needing contact with the child at the memory. 

“That is a sweet story and all, but how is any of this possible?” Cora asked cutting through the moment.

“I’m a priestess,” Lydia stated as if it should be obvious, “When you dumped off a newborn wolf in Hale territory, I responded to him. I heard his cries and I found him, he was scared and hungry and freezing to death so my body reacted to his needs,” She lifted her eyebrows and looked down at the nursing child. 

“Being a priestess means you breastfeed werewolves?” Paul asked, his tone somewhere between bewildered and disgusted.

“No,” she scoffed, “Jacob is special, he needed a mother so I became his.”

“That is ridiculous,” Paul shook his head, “I don’t care what these people told you Lydia, he is not your child.”

“You want to bet?” She challenged, as Jacob finished eating and she shifted her clothes so she could button her shirt back up and drop the blanket, “I dare you to do a DNA test, or you could just look at the one I had done.”

“What?” Peter’s face took on a mirrored confusion to Paul’s. Handing the baby to Derek, who rested him on his shoulder to burp him. Lydia stood and crossed to the desk in the corner of the room. Opening a drawer she shuffled a few pages of paper, before lifting a packet of medical test forms. Walking over to her father, she dropped the official forms into his lap, “Do you need me to explain them to you?” She asked, her tone condescending.  

Looking over the forms bewildered Paul finally has to give into Lydia’s taunting words, “Um, yeah.”

Snatching the papers out of his hands she pulls the coffee table in front of him and kneels down, laying the sheets out beside one another, “You see this chart,” she gestures to the paper while looking to her father, all the wolves in the room following her movement silently, not wanting to give away the fact that they knew nothing about this little revelation, “This is my basic DNA breakdown,” moving her fingers to the next page, “This is Derek’s” moving to the last page, “This is Jacob’s. As you can see from the comparison on the last page, Jacob gets have of his biological material from me, _his mother,_ and half from Derek, _his father._ ” She explained, her tone so over this conversation as she summed up her argument, 

“So, while yes, I may not have carried and delivered that child he is still mine. Mine in blood, but more importantly in my heart. My body accepted him as my child before I ever saw him and he will be my child until the day I die. I am the only mother he will ever have, I will never lie to him and I will love him no matter what. All of which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about either of my parents.” 

With that she stood and walked back to the couch, taking a deep breath and pausing to kiss Jacob’s head, her hand tangling Derek’s for a moment. Derek leaning in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before she pulled back and sat beside him. Squaring her shoulders she fixed her cool stare on her father, “Now, I will ask one more time, who is pulling the strings behind Cora- gate?”

Still in shock and staring at the pages in front of him, Paul looks up at his daughter, who he is coming to understand he has never known at all. Sighing, his shoulders slump and it is clear that the man is giving up, “I am not entirely sure. I got a call the morning of the fire; a woman who had been friends with my mother had tracked me down. She said that there was going to be a terrible tragedy and that a special child would need my help. She did not tell me her name but she did give me an address in Beacon Hills, the Hale house address, I recognized it right away because my mother used to go there when I was young, I would sometimes play with their kids. She said that there was a tall white oak half a mile north of the house and I needed to be there thirty minutes before moonrise. I would find a child there and I needed to bring her to a safe house.”

“What was the other end of the deal?” Lydia asked coldly, her eyes sharp.

“Why do you always assume the worst in me Lydia?” He dad asked, peeve at her attitude. 

“Because I know you,” she answers, “I know you never do anything unless you have an angle and a cryptic phone call about a tragedy wouldn’t have sparked some charitable spirit in you. If you gave a shit about the Hales you would have warned them. You didn’t. You just went to woods to collect your prize.” Even Peter flinch at the icy tone she used to cut her father down. 

Closing his eyes, as if to block out the biting hatred in her voice, Paul took a deep breath, “Lydia you have to understand, you mother and I were fighting all the time over money and I had made some bad investments so,” Looking to his daughter, he made the saddest eyes he could, “Lydia we were on the cusp of losing everything, I was in so much debt that I couldn’t see light and this woman, she offered me freedom from that. She said if I delivered this child to her that my debts would be cleared and I would get a yearly stipend.”

“What,” Cora whispered from behind him, moving slowly away from his chair, her brown eyes wide in horror, “I was job? You kept me from my family and told me that if I contacted them that I would put them in danger because of a fucking payoff? I thought you cared about me,” she sobbed. 

Standing, Paul crossed to her, trying to calm the girl down, “I do care about you Cora, I love you as if you were my own, but I didn’t know you when I took the deal. Later, at the safe house in Napa they told me that you had to be kept safe, that you were from a special line and that people would want to use you for their own purposes if they knew you were alive. That is why I helped them take you to Renee in Arizona; I thought you would be safer there.”

“You sold me,” she cried, “You took me away from Derek and Laura and you sold me to people you didn’t even know.”

“Cora,” he whispered desperately and if she didn’t know how much of a manipulator he was, Lydia would have felt sorry for him, “I,”

His words were cut off when Derek handed the baby to Lydia and crossed the room in three strides and pulled his baby sister into his arms. Holding her close, he let her cry against his chest, rubbing her back gently and whispering soothing nonsense in her ear. Sighing, Lydia stood, “While I want to continue this discussion, I think we have all had enough truth for today. Dad I think that it is time you leave,” she said with an air of finality. 

Walking towards his daughter, Paul once again tried to touch her, Lydia flinched away from him but he looked at his grandson for the first time, “He is beautiful Lydi,” he whispered, studying the child’s face, “He reminds me of you when you were little.”

“He looks like Derek,” she says softly, aiming for aloof but landing somewhere closer to sad. 

“Maybe, but that nose is all you,” he reassures. When she won’t meet his eyes, he nodded dejectedly and makes his way to the foyer, turning once more he says, “Merry Christmas Lydia,” he looks to his daughter, “And Cora,” he looks to the still sobbing werewolf, burrowed in her brother’s chest. “I am sorry.”

As the door echoes behind him, the whole room listens for him to get in his car and drive away. As his engine can no longer be heard, Lydia drops down on the couch and lets out a long breath. Smiling sadly at her, Jackson scoots closer and wraps an arm around her, leaning into him, thankful for the support she closes her eyes as he kisses her hair. 

“So this was not how I wanted to start Christmas,” she quips and the whole room chuckles, grateful for the break in the tension. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think or if you are reading this. Thanks so much!


	25. Christmas Not to Be Forgotten

As the door echoes behind him, the whole room listens for him to get in his car and drive away. When his engine can no longer be heard, Lydia drops down on the couch and lets out a long breath. Smiling sadly at her, Jackson scoots closer and wraps an arm around her, leaning into him, thankful for the support she closes her eyes as he kisses her hair.

"So this was not how I wanted to start Christmas," she quips and the whole room chuckles, grateful for the break in the tension.

Slowly releasing his sister, Derek keeps his hands on her arms in support, honestly not knowing if she could support herself right now. Wiping her face with quick nervous movements, she offered him a broken imitation of a smile, "It's okay Der. I will be okay, I just," she swallowed hard, "I'm sorry I," she gulped for air, trying to repress another sob, her fingers digging into his forearms, "I, God I was so stupid," she broke and he pulled her back to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and letting her cry.

Looking over her head he makes eye contact with Lydia, both checking in with her and letting her know that they would be speaking later. Glancing down once, she met his eyes with a stiff nod before standing out of Jackson's arms and walking into the kitchen. The beta followed her slowly and Derek knew that he wanted to say something but didn't feel comfortable saying in Cora's presence. With another moment's hesitation he pushed through the kitchen door after Lydia.

Walking into the kitchen was almost jarring after the somber mood of the living room for the past few hours. The whole pack was stuffed in there, the sound of their laughter and banter mingled with the delicious smells of Christmas dinner. Scott and Isaac had taken the helm at the stove, both mixing and stirring ingredients as Stiles leaned over the counter, shamelessly flirting with Erica while she chopped ingredients and Boyd peeled potatoes with an amused look in his eyes.

Smiling up at Lydia, Erica quietly asked, "Everything okay?" As if they all hadn't been listening in on the tense confrontation with Lydia's father.

Offering her a tight smile, Lydia nodded and pulled her baby closer to her chest. Dropping her knife. Erica made her way over to Lydia and hugged the redhead, whispering, "It is going to be okay," into her ear, low enough that the other wolves probably missed it. Jackson took over Erica's post chopping things and the girls sat at the table for a few minutes. Hearing the front door open then close and then hearing someone on the stairs, Lydia handed the baby off to Erica before giving her a look, "He is in the backyard," she smiled before standing to take Jacob to bed.

Slipping out of the back door, Lydia spotted Derek in the backyard, his hands in is pockets, shoulders hunched under his leather coat, head staring down as if the snow held the secrets to the universe.

Walking gingerly down the stair, Lydia keeps her distance, not because she is scared of him—she could never be scared of Derek—but because she knows that he needs space when he is angry and that he tends to lash out when he is hurt. Crossing her arms against the cold, she lets her head drop forward. With a sigh, she whispers, "Please talk to me," her voice much weaker than she intended and a part of her hates that- that she lets him have that much control.

The tension in his shoulders increases for a moment, "Lydia," he starts, his voice tight.

Moving forward in jerky movements, she grabs his wrist, shocking him a bit as she pulls him inside the shed. As an afterthought she realizes that the pack had redone the shed, making it a soundproof training room for Derek and the pack as a Christmas gift and she had inadvertently ruined the surprise. Quickly suppressing her guilt because this conversation was more important right now, she tries, and fails, to catch Derek's eyes.

"It is soundproof in here, werewolf tested soundproof so no one can hear us," she explains, suddenly feeling awkward. He nods, his movements controlled as he digs his hands in his pockets.

Neither of them really know where to start this conversation- on one hand, Derek is inexplicably happy that Jacob is his son, but some part of the way he found out feels like a betrayal. Lydia did not run the test idly, he knows her, she does everything with intent and purpose and she should have told him. Jacob was his son too. Oh God, Jacob was his son, he felt breathless at the realization. Slowly he looked up at Lydia, grateful that she couldn't hear his heart, "You should have told me." He says softly.

Nodding pathetically, she agrees, "I know I should have, I am so sorry, I," she begins to ramble when he cuts her off.

"Did you do it because you didn't believe me?" He asks the floor more than her.

Pausing mid- rant, she furrows her brows, "What?"

"Did you have a DNA test done on Jacob because you didn't believe me when I told you that I wasn't his father?"

The furrow in her brow deepens because the thought had never occurred to her, "No," she answers dumbfounded, "I," she sighs, "Derek I never thought about that again. You said he wasn't your son and I believed you. I trust you." She answers, her words clear and determined yet betraying what trusting someone has cost her.

Continuing, she adds, "Derek, I wouldn't have cared if he were your son. I know you have a past, both of us do and I don't have a problem with that. But you have to know that I never even considered the idea that you had lied to me."

"Okay," he nods after a moment, "then why did you have him tested?" He questions some of the tension draining from his shoulders.

"I had Deaton run the test a few weeks ago because both you and Erica brought up his scent changing. It was so strange that he didn't have a scent when you found him, then he started to smell like me, which made sense because I was feeding him, so he literally had a part of me inside of him. But both of said that his scent was changing, that he smelled like you and I and I started to form a hypothesis. I knew Deaton had collected a DNA sample from the night we found him but I had him take a new one. He also tested me and I stole your hair from a brush and had him test it too."

Watching her intently as she explained, Derek's face was stone and Lydia could not tell if he was just processing her words and his own thoughts about her reasoning or if every word was building to a rage. Letting her words taper off, she dropped her hands to the side, waiting for his response.

When he finally spoke, his voice was soft and the hurt in it was clear, "Why didn't you tell me?" For the first time in this conversation he looks up and meets her eyes, "Lydia when you first suspected something, why didn't you tell me instead of going behind my back and having the test done?" After a moment's pause, he added, "How long have you known anyway?"

Looking at him with hurt filling her big green eyes she answers, "I have only known since yesterday morning, but with everything that has been going on, I haven't had time to figure out how to tell you," she defends.

"Um how about, 'Hey Derek, I think we should have a DNA test done on Jacob," he snarked.

Letting out a frustrated grunt, she snapped, "Do you want to know why I didn't tell you about the test before?" She crossing her arms, as if she is bracing herself, "It was because I wasn't sure. I had a hypothesis but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to tell you that Jacob was your child and then have the test prove that he wasn't okay?" She tried to swallow down her tears, "I didn't want," she paused to breath, and he watched her, knowing that her words were important but really not understanding her logic until she let the last line fall from her lips, "I didn't want you to lose anyone else." She looked down again.

"What?" He took a step towards her, suddenly ashamed at his earlier frustration.

Looking back up at him she explained, "Derek, you lost your whole family and I know that you don't talk about it much but I can feel how much you miss them and sometimes I see you watching the pack and I just want to cry because I know that you had a pack, a family, before us and they were taken from you. I couldn't get your hopes up, let you think that you had a family again and then take that from you too."

She stepped forward, her eyes pleading, "I didn't want to hurt you, not like that."

Stepping forward he crossed the distance between them, pulling her to his chest and taking several deep breaths, breathing in Lydia's scent, he responded, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, but Lydia," he rubbed his nose in her hair, "I just," he grasped for words, "I need you to tell me what is going on. I know that you were trying to protect me, and believe me, I am so overwhelmed and grateful that you care enough about me to think like that. To try to protect me. But baby that I not your job, I need to know when you are worried about things," he pulled back, looking into her eyes, "Especially things about the pack and about Jacob. Honestly, the DNA test wouldn't have mattered, in my mind he is my son, genetics don't change that."

Nodding, she ran her hands down his arms, "I know, I know that genetics don't change the way we feel about him, but it does make it real."

"What do you mean? How is it real now?" His concern clear in his voice, he was worried that she was not happy about this discovery.

"It was real for me the first time I fed him; the first time I felt his heartbeat against my own," she clarified, "But I was so scared all the time, always worried that someone would show up and take him away from me. I tried to put on a strong face, but that would have killed me," she admitted, "Now that can't happen. He is ours; on paper and with science and anyone who tries to claim him can't."

Derek understood that Lydia trusted in science because it was quantifiable, it was concrete in its evolution and that brought her comfort. For him, things were instinctual, he trusted what he could see, smell, what his instincts told him. He knew that could get him in trouble at times, but it was what had gotten him this far in life.

Now, holding Lydia close as they both processed the day, he realized that he also trusted her- this tiny woman in his arms who had tried to protect him and had saved him in ways that she would never know. Kissing the top of her head, he pulled out of their embrace enough to look her in to eye, "Lydia I," he paused, rolling the words around in his mind, weighing them before speaking, "I love you and I trust you. I just thought you should know that," he states simply.

Feeling the tears prick her eyes, she sighs against his skin, "I love you too, I love you so much it scares me sometimes." Her voice sounds both relieved and broken, like she is revealing some great secret as she confesses. For the next few minutes, he just holds her close, thanking a God that he stopped believing in the day he saw his home in cinders, the smell of his family and burnt flesh hanging thick in the air, he thanks him for giving him the gift of this woman and of his son. For a moment Derek thinks that maybe, just maybe, the universe doesn't hate him.

Once they have each gotten their emotions in check, they break apart, Derek looking around for the first time, "Um, when did the shed become a gym?" he asks, his confusion clear on his face.

Giggling and wiping her nose, Lydia smiles, "Surprise," she exclaims weakly. At his raised eyebrow she continues, "This was supposed to be a surprise for you; it is the pack's Christmas gift for you. You know a place that you all can train and workout without anyone seeing or hearing anything they shouldn't. It is soundproofed and the windows are one way so the neighbors can''t see anything." She explained.

Looking around he took in the large room. He had always avoided the shed because it was full of Laura's things, all boxed up and neatly stored, but still reeking of her. Sometime the smell of her in house overwhelmed him, he just couldn't be surrounded by her things, by her scent. It was too much of a reminder about what he had lost. The pack had taken that space and converted it into something great, a state of the art space with plenty of room for all of them to practice.

"Wow," he mumbles as he test out a few of the weights, "This is great, you all didn't have to do this."

"Derek it is Christmas, we had to get you something and we all thought that this was the most useful thing we could do," chuckling she added, "Also, none of us want you getting arrested for slamming a bunch of teenagers into the backyard and we figured the neighbors may get concerned if they saw you training with the pack."

Chuckling he nodded, "True, but the neighbors weren't too concerned when Scott and Allison were fucking in the backyard, so they are either perverts, brain dead or completely apathetic to what happens over here."

Quirking her eyebrow, she laughs, "That is exactly what Stiles said."

"Never say that again," he told her straight faced before the both broke and started laughing. Kissing her gently, he cups her face, "Are we okay?"

Smiling she nods, "Yeah, we are okay." Taking his hand she opens the door, "Come on, we have a dinner to finish and a pack to feed." She pulls him towards the house. Groaning he allows her to lead him, secretly happy that, for the first time in years, he is surrounded by family on Christmas.

Entering the house felt like entering chaos- beautiful, blissful chaos. The pack was rushing around, setting the table, filling serving dishes and bantering with each other. Spotting Erica holding Jacob with one arm and placing silverware with the other, Derek crosses to her. Lifting his son into his arms, he cuddles the baby against his chest, "Hey buddy," he kissed the baby's head, looking up at the pack, he breaths in their collective scent, "Okay, what else needs to be done?"

There are a rush of responses and Derek hands the baby off to his mother and takes control of his kitchen back, when Peter joins him, the two moving with practiced ease around the kitchen, no one makes a comment. A few hours later the whole pack settles around the table, all smiles and giggles as the food is placed on the table.

"Um, do we say grace?" Isaac asks, confusion clear in his voice. Looking around everyone pauses, all unclear of each others religious beliefs. It is Boyd who breaks the silence,

"In my family, you know, before my dad," he looked down, "Well we would count our blessings, you know like what in our lives we were grateful for this year."

"That sounds great," Derek answers softly, he is rewarded with a wide smile from the stoic beta.

"I'll go first," Erica chirps, looking around she swallows a lump in her throat, "I am so grateful for each of you, my family, my pack. For the first time in my life I feel secure, safe," she smiles at each of them,

"I have friends and I love you all so much."

Reaching over, Lydia squeezes the blondes hand. "I am grateful for all you too," the redhead smiles,

"My whole life I have been surrounded by people. People who were supposed to be my friends, who were supposed to love me, but I never felt like I was enough. I never felt like I was whole. But here, with all of you, I have found that. I am grateful for my pack, I am grateful for my son, I am grateful for all of the love that life has brought me this year. I feel more blessed than I have ever been," She smiles a genuine smile, Derek's hand squeezing hers under the table.

Everyone takes a turn: Scott grateful that what he thought was a curse had led to friendships and has helped him become a person he didn't know he could be, Allison grateful for the pack's acceptance of her at the table, she knows that she has a long way to go to earn their trust back but the fact that they allow her here means a lot. Jackson jokes that he is just glad the losers can cook and Boyd is happy to feel included. Stiles jokes that Christmas dinner with mythological creatures and the two hottest girls in school is a dream come true, but he soberly adds that this is the best Christmas since his mom died because he is spending it with family. Cora is grateful to be back with her brother and is looking forward to reconnecting with him and to getting to know each member of the pack.

Isaac breaks everyone's heart a bit when he looks around and smiles saying, "I had forgotten what it was like, you know being in a family. I just," looking down at his plate he continues, "This is the first holiday in a long time that I felt safe and none of you will ever know what that means to me. You have taught me that life is more that fear and that is my blessing this year." That earns him a watery hug from Lydia and Erica and a manly should squeeze from Derek.

After a wonderful meal and a lot of laughing everyone is cleaning up. Derek pulls Lydia to his chest, pressing a kiss to her forehead before smiling down at her, "Okay, I will admit this was not a terrible idea."

Grinning up at he she geodes, "So, I was right, Christmas should be celebrated to it's fullest."

"I didn't say all that, but dinner was nice," He admits, kissing her while Stiles and Jackson argued over who got to do the dishes. Suddenly, Lydia goes rigid in his arms and he pulls back in time to see her eyes flash green as she dives for Isaac who is standing by the table holding Jacob.

Before anyone can react the glass from the window shatters as Lydia shoves Isaac back into the table. Everyone freezes for a moment and then Lydia lets out a small squeak, her eyes fading to their normal shade as her eyes are drawn down to the arrow now sticking out of her abdomen.

Before he can process the image, Derek is across the room, catching her before she can hit the ground. Isaac is staring helplessly as Jacob starts to squall in his arms and he realizes that Lydia just took an arrow meant for him. His world moves in slow motion as chaos erupts around


	26. A Lover's Fight

Before he can process the image, Derek is across the room, catching her before she can hit the ground. Isaac is staring helplessly as Jacob starts to squall in his arms and he realizes that Lydia just took an arrow meant for him. His world moves in slow motion as chaos erupts around him. 

Lydia feels like her world is going in and out of focus as noise echos around her. She feels the throbbing pain of the arrow thrumming through her body, more painful that anything she has felt since Peter's attack. She feels her knees go just as Derek is grabbing her arms, catching her from falling. He quickly scoops her up and then she is on the table on her side. She feels something entering her system, it burns as her heart pumps it through her body, as if her blood is turning acidic. 

The rest of the pack watches in horror as Lydia screams, her body coiling in pain. Jackson, Allison and Scott react quickly, Allison grabbing a crossbow out of her purse as they run out the backdoor in pursuit of the assailant. Derek pleads with Lydia as her eyes start to roll back in her head, “Baby, baby please stay with me,” he holds her face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs back and forth on her cheeks, “Lydia please, stay with me.”

Feeling the emotion of her Alpha overwhelm her, Erica looks to Boyd and Isaac. Isaac is frozen, still holding Jacob who is crying in earnest, like he knows his mom is hurt. Boyd has his cell phone out and is calling someone, Erica quickly realizes that it is Deaton, once she hears that the doctor is on his way, she moves to Isaac to take the baby. He seems shocked to see her when she touches him, “Isaac,” she coaxes, “Let me take Jacob and see if I can get him calmed down okay.” 

After a moment, he looks down at the screaming infant and nods, allowing the blonde to take the baby. Once she has Jacob settled in her arms, Peter re-enters the room, she hadn't noticed that he had left, but he had a focused look on his face as he approached Derek, who was still slumped over Lydia on the kitchen table. 

Squeezing Derek shoulder, Peter told the young man, “Deaton will be here soon, she will be okay,” he reassured, but the look on his face said that he was just as worried as the rest of them. His uncle's words shaking him a bit, Derek leaned back and looked down at Lydia's wound. Reaching for the arrow, he is shocked when the nearly catatonic girl grabs his wrist, “No,” she croaks out.

“Lydia I need to see,” he starts but she cut him off, “It is poisoned, don’t touch it.”

“What?” Peter leans forward, slightly pushing Derek to the side. Lowering his face so that he is even with her wound, he carefully avoids touching the arrow, breathing deeply, “She's right, it is poisoned. I,” he breaths in again, “It is wolf's bane, but it is a strain I am not familiar with.” 

“Why would?” Erica steps forward, finally having gotten Jacob to settle a little bit, “She's human.”

“Because they weren’t aiming for her,” Peter whispered, looking up to Derek who nodded helplessly in agreement before turning to the Betas in the room. “Lydia saw it coming and she pushed Isaac out of the way, but I don't think that they were aiming for her.”

Lowering himself to his knees, so that he could look into her eyes, Derek held her hand as she gripped his in pain and asked, “Lydia, what did you see? Your eyes flashed and you pushed Isaac out of the way, but what did you see?”

Opening her eyes with a pained grunt, Lydia gasped out, “I saw hands, black gloves, loading a bow, like Allison has. I felt the intention to do harm and I just knew,” she gritted her teeth as the pain grew, “I knew Jacob and Isaac where in danger, it was like I could see it happening. I couldn't let them get hurt so I shoved him out of the way,” her muscles were quaking in pain as her spine twisted a bit, “My God it hurts,” she moaned, “What is this?”

Looking to his uncle, eyes, wide and scared Derek asked, “Why isn't she healing? You said that after the binding thing, she could use my powers, so why isn't she healing and why can't I drain her pain?”

Shaking his head for a moment, Peter answered, “I think the wolf's bane is stopping her from tapping into your powers; if you can't heal with it in your system, then neither can she,” he theorized. 

“I agree,” Deaton answered from the doorway of the kitchen as he was lead in by Boyd. He was not, however, alone. He was followed by Melissa McCall who was carrying a medical bag and the Sheriff who walked straight over to his son. What shocked everyone was that Lydia's parents followed the parent party in, causing Cora to shrink back behind Peter and Derek to growl at the sight of the people who have treated Lydia so poorly. 

Writhing in pain once more, Lydia opened her eyes when she heard Deaton's voice only to see both of her parents looking on in horror at the growing puddle of blood, now dripping off of the table and onto the floor under their daughter. Groaning once more, Lydia looked to Derek, “What the hell are they doing here?”

“I,” her mother stepped forward, “Lydia you are injured of course we,”

“Oh shut up, I know you are not here for me,” she bit out, her pain causing her to lose any patience with her mother, “You didn't give shit about me when you kicked me out and you haven't started caring now,” she ground the words out as Deaton began to examine her and Melissa started laying out medical instruments. Mrs. Martin took one more step towards her daughter, reaching out only to be met with a low warning growl and the angry red eyes of the Alpha. Taking a step back, she brought her hands to her chest, trying to hold the sob in. 

Lydia's mother brought her hands to her mouth and tried to repress her sobs as Lydia screamed out in agony when Deaton probed a particularly sore spot in her abdomen. Clinging to Derek's hands and forearms as he held her still, she tried to control her screaming as the doctor and Melissa shared a worried look. 

“Okay,” Deaton spoke to the young couple, “I am going to sedate her so that we can remove the arrow. I think it hit her spleen and it make have nicked her liver, so I need to repair those organs quickly. Time is of the essence here understand,” he explained in his standard controlled voice but the pack knew that he was worried. He and Lydia had grown close over the past month as he taught her more about her powers and he was genuinely impressed by the girl's curiosity and intellect. 

Derek seemed to pale even more and Erica was openly crying now, even as she tried to calm down the screaming baby in her arms. Squeezing Derek's hands with both of her own, Lydia made him look at her, “Derek, I want you to take Jacob into the other room okay,” Looking around she made eye contact with Isaac and Erica, “All of you, go and wait, let Deaton do his job okay.” No one moved and she could hear her baby getting more and more upset.

Finally she locked eyes with Stiles, who looked terrified but oddly stoic, “Stiles,” she whispered and he nodded, understanding what she was asking. Leaving his dad's side, he crossed to Erica and took Jacob from her, rubbing the baby's back as he guided Erica to the door, “Come on Isaac,” he prodded and the boy followed. Cora quickly exited, still giving the Martin's a wide berth, Boyd stopping to call to Lydia's parents, “Mr. and Mrs. Martin, let them do their work.” 

After a moment of looking back at their daughter, they reluctantly nodded and followed.   
Melissa started an IV and injected a medication in it to sedate Lydia, “Derek,” the young redhead prodded, “I don't want you to see this,” she said, her voice weary. 

“Lydia I am not leaving you alone,” Derek whispered, tears in his eyes.

Pressing a kiss to his knuckles, she smiled softly as the medication started to take hold, “You are not leaving me, you are doing what I ask and taking care of our son. Please, I will not make it through this unless I know that Jacob is safe.”   
Closing his eyes against the welling emotion, he relented, “I love you,” he whispered against her forehead. 

“I love you,” she mumbled as she lost consciousness. Standing Derek took a deep breath, still holding her hand he turned to Peter, “You don't let her out of your sight. Keep her safe, you owe her that.” His eyes flashed red unconsciously and his uncle nodded, “Of course.”

Looking back at his bleeding mate, he was reluctant to release her hand, as if he were afraid that if he stopped touching her, he would lose her forever. Deaton spared the young man a look, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Derek, I am going to do everything I can to help her, but I need to get started. I know you are scared but your son needs you to be strong now okay. Go take care of your baby, of Lydia's baby and I will take care of Lydia for you.”

Taking solace in the doctor's words, Derek nodded and mumble his thanks before exiting the kitchen. Looking at the vet and at the now undead Hale, Melissa sighed, “I don't think that boy can take losing her.”  
“Well then you better not let her die,” Peter answered darkly, all of the sass meant for the comment lost in the worry clear on his face. Who ever attacked them may have not been aiming for Lydia, but they had certainly hit the heart of the pack. 

Walking into the living room, Derek felt as if he had aged ten years. Looking around, he saw both his sister and Erica in tears, Cora sitting in the corner, her knees pulled to her chest and her forehead pressed against her knees in an attempt to hide her tears. Boyd stood like a sentinel to her right, putting himself between Cora and Lydia's parents who where sitting on the couch. The Sheriff was on the phone by the stairs and Stiles was attempting to calm Jacob down. It was now that Derek noticed that Scott, Allison and Jackson were gone. 

Crossing to Stiles, he took his son and asked, “Where are the others?” as he gently brought the baby to his shoulder, allowing the child to burrow his little head into the crook of his neck. Between his father’s hand rubbing his back and the scent of him, Jacob had calmed into a few pitiful snuffles against Derek's throat after a few minutes. 

“They ran out to see if they could track, you know” Stiles whispered back, tilting his head towards the other room where Lydia lay bleeding. Nodding, Derek walked over to the other side of the room, taking a seat in the chair facing the Christmas tree. Once Jacob was calm he looked to Erica, “Erica, I need you to go upstairs and get the stuff to make a bottle out of the box under my bed. Jacob needs to eat, so we are going to have to give him formula,” Derek requested softly. The beta hopped into action, glad to have something to do. Stiles followed her up the stairs, knowing that she didn't need to be alone. 

A tense silence filled the room, only the wet sounds of the surgery going on in the kitchen and the echoing heartbeats of the pack fill the space. Shifting the baby against his shoulder, Derek was nearly startled at Mrs. Martin's voice, “Is,” she started, her voice raspy with tears, “Is that him?” She asked the Alpha, “Is that Lydia's baby?”

Repressing the urge to growl, Derek gently ran his palm over the back of the baby's dark downy head and nodded. 

She continued at his affirmation, “May I?” She nodded towards the child and Derek’s eyes flashed red at her again.

“You are not coming near my son,” He answered incredulously. 

She reeled in shock, “Excuse me, I just, he is my grandson.” She scoffed.

“Yes, he is,” Derek answered, finally making eye contact with her, his eyes hard and cold, “He is your grandson who you threw out in the cold when he was two days old in a shower of glass and insults. You don't get to see him, you gave up that right.”

“I think I am justified for being a bit shocked at the situation” She tries to argue.

“There is no justification for the things that you called Lydia, not that night or when she saw you at the mall. You were hateful and bitter and I will not have that kind of pathetic meanness around my son. If, at some point Lydia decides that you are worthy of her time, then she can decide if she wants you near our son. Until then, stay away,” he snaps, grateful when Erica reentered the room with a bottle for Jacob and a fresh shirt for Derek. 

It wasn't until the blonde handed him the shirt that he realized that his current one was covered in blood. Lydia's blood. Suddenly he felt the weight of that reality settling on him and he gladly handed the baby to Erica so he could change his shirt, ridding himself of his mate's blood and trying desperately to ignore the fact that she had lost so much of it. In the shuffle to change his clothes he missed the hitch in the breathing of both his sister and Paul Martin as they saw the tattoo on his back. Boyd, however, did not miss it and would be looking into it as soon as this crisis was diverted. 

Taking the baby back, Derek settled back into the chair and attempted to feed Jacob the bottle. The baby wanted no part of such a thing and he fought his father for several minutes. 

“What is wrong with him?” Carol Martin asked, leaning forward again trying to get a glimpse of the baby. 

Looking up at her with his best exasperated glare, Derek huffed, “He needs to eat,” before trying to coax the bottle into the infant's mouth again. The baby stilled for a moment before screwing up his face at the plastic nipple and batting it away again.  
“But why isn't he eating, if he is hungry?” The woman asked.

“Because,” Derek snapped, “He has never been bottle fed before but unfortunately his mother is currently laid out on the kitchen table bleeding so she can't feed him and he is going to have to make due with this until she is better,” his voice is a growl at the end sending Jacob screaming again. 

“Derek,” Boyd warns lowly and looking at the stoic Beta, the Alpha nods and takes a deep breath before shifting the boy in his arms so that the baby's head rested in his hand, his thumb rubbing calming circles behind the baby's ear, “Shh, buddy I know you are scared alright, because I am too,” he spoke softly and with a gentleness that they had only ever heard directed at his son, “Your mom is hurt and there are a bunch of strange people around and that is stressing you out, but Jacob, your mom is going to be okay. I promise, your mom will be okay. Right now I need you to eat though and I know that you don't like it but just try okay. Try so that your mom doesn't have to worry about you while she is trying to get better.” As if he understood what his father was saying, Jacob calmed down completely for the first time since all of this had started. After a bit more cajoling the baby latched onto bottle and began eating. 

As the baby ate, a tense silence rolled out over the room like fog, everyone feeling the suffocating worry of waiting for news. After a few minutes, Derek shifts the baby to burp him and the infant finally nods off to sleep. Derek can feel the exhaustion that he had not felt in weeks returning as he sat tense, afraid to move lest he shatter the illusion of calm. Suddenly he felt a jolt of electricity flow through him, causing his head to jerk back. 

The room was shocked as Derek jumped slightly, his eyes flashing green as he gasped in what sounded like pain. Stiles and Erica rushed forward, Erica taking Jacob, who was still sleeping and Stiles standing between her and the unstable Alpha. 

“What is happening?” Cora asks, standing to Stiles' right.

“I don't know,” he answers, “But it has something to do with Lydia,” he looks to the others, “That is the color her eyes turn.”

At the mention of her daughter's name, Mrs. Martin stood, “What does that mean?”

Her question is cut off by Peter entering the room in a slight panic, something none of them had ever seen. Grabbing his nephews head, Peter tightens his hand around the back of Derek's neck, speaking softly and sternly, “Derek, can you hear me?” Squeezing the younger man's neck harder, he asked again, “Derek, I need you to focus, Lydia needs your help.”

His uncle's words had the desired effect, Derek's eyes fading back to their normal green for a moment before a shrill scream could be heard from the kitchen. Derek was on his feet and out of the room before anyone saw him move, Peter looked back at Boyd and said, “Boyd, we are going to need your help.” With that he exited, most not noticing the slight wary air settling around him. Boyd followed silently ignoring Mrs. Martin's shrieks of “What the hell is going on? She is my child I have a right to know what is going on!”

Soon her yelling woke up Jacob and he started to cry again, jiggling the baby, Erica looked at the older woman with clear disdain, “Oh, will you shut up!” She snapped as she rubbed the child's back.

“Wha! Excuse me, who are you to tell me what to do?” She asked indignantly. 

“Who am I? Who the fuck are you lady?” Erica challenged and Stiles moved cautiously to stand between them, ready to break in when necessary.   
“I am her mother!” Mrs. Martin shirked, actually stomping her foot before reaching suddenly for the crying baby in Erica's arms. Before Erica could move to prevent the woman from grabbing the baby, Jacob spewed the contents of his tiny belly all over his grandmother.   
Yanking her hand back, Mrs. Martin looked horrified as she attempted to shake the vomit off her hand, “Oh God, gross,” she squealed, “Of course you would be just as difficult as your mother,” she muttered. 

“Stiles,” Erica gritted out, “Take the baby.”  
Looking at her confused he asked, “Uh? What?”  
“Take the baby,” she stated coolly.  
“Why?” His eyebrows rose.   
“So I can rip this bitches throat out with my teeth!” She growled as her eyes flashed yellow. 

Jumping into action, Stiles repressed a laugh as he stepped in front of her and tried to catch her eyes, “Whoa now, somebody has clearly had a little too much daddy- daughter time,” At Erica's eye roll, he knew he had her, “How about you go upstairs and clean Jacob up and see if you can get him to calm down.”

Letting out a breath, Erica nodded, knowing that he was trying to defuse the situation. Lifting her hand, she brushed her fingers along his jaw, offering him a soft smile before turning and walking up the stairs. After watching her walk up the stairs with a slight giddiness that made his father smile, Stiles turned to Mrs. Martin, “There is a wash room under the stairs, go clean your hands and if you insist on staying, please keep your snide opinions to yourself. Next time, I won't stop her.”

Staring at the boy for a moment, she follows his command and goes to the wash room. 

In the kitchen, things are getting a bit chaotic. Lydia is fighting the anesthesia and Deaton needs Boyd to hold her still while he finishes stitching her up. She had clearly started to bleed more during he surgery as the floor and table had a lot more blood covering them than when they left the room. Boyd could feel his heart pounding in fear as he followed Ms. McCall's instructions on were to hold Lydia so that she could not move and rip her stitches. 

Derek slowly dropped to his knees, reaching blindly for her face he cradles her head in one hand while the other strokes her cheek in a way that he hopes is comforting. “What happened?” He whispers.

“I am not sure,” Deaton sighs as he places another stitch, “I clamped off the internal bleed and closed up the damage to the spleen and liver, but when I started closing she cried out and started fighting the anesthesia.” He explained as he finished the last few stitches. Looking to Boyd he have the boy a reassuring smile, “Okay son, you can let her go now, we are done.” 

Looking to Derek for confirmation, Boyd gently released her at the Alpha's nod.

“Can I move her?” Derek asked, “She looks uncomfortable,” his eyes have not left the priestesses pale face. 

“Well, I need to put the dressing on the wound and then, yes, you can move her somewhere that she can rest more comfortably,” The man offered a gentle smile, making short work of applying the bandages that Ms. McCall had prepped. 

As soon as he was given he okay, Derek slid his hands under Lydia's unconscious body, trying to move her as little as possible as he lifted her to his chest. Before he could make it to the door, Boyd had it held open and Erica waiting for him at the top of the stairs to help, once she saw him, she moved back into the hallway. He actively ignored the gasps that came from her parents and his sister as he march quickly through the living room and up the stairs, once he reach his room, he was not shocked to see Erica there, already pulling out clean pajamas for Lydia and a basin filling with warm water in the bathroom. 

“Lay her down on the bed and we will get her cleaned up and changed, I am sure she will sleep better if she is clean,” Erica ordered softly, not making eye contact with her Alpha. Derek noticed his son sleeping peacefully in his bassinet to the side of the bed.

“Erica, you don't have to,” he began as he eased the petite redhead down to the bed.

“She did it for me once Derek, I need to return the favor,” She cut him off and he nodded, understanding completely because Lydia had done the same for him as well. She had cared for each member of the pack when they needed her and it was only know that he realized that they were all just as scared as he was. 

After cleaning the blood off of Lydia and helping Erica carefully dress her in loose pajamas, Derek tucked her into bed. Sitting beside her while Erica dumped the water in the bathroom and put away the supplies they had used to clean Lydia up, he took a moment to breath in the comforting scent of his priestess, no longer completely overpowered by the smell of fear, pain and blood. His moment of zen was interrupted when Jackson entered the room quietly.

“How is she doing?” He asked tentatively, as if he was scared of the answer. 

Sighing, Derek continued looking down at his mate, “She is going to be okay. Deaton repaired the damage, but we still need to find out what the shooter put in the dart, it is poisoning her and Deaton doesn't want to wake her up until it is neutralized.”

Nodding, even though the Alpha could not see him, Jackson said, “I think we found something you need to see,” at his words the Alpha looked over his shoulder at the usually self- confident Beta, 

“What?” His eyebrows rose.

“The shooter,” Jackson answers coolly, his disdain for the person who injured Lydia clear. 

Standing, Derek presses a kiss to Lydia's still forehead before looking to Erica who nods, “I will watch over her.”

Turning, the fear and stress that had plagued his features all night gave way to the cold countenance that they all knew meant pain to come. As Jackson and Derek exited the room, Erica sent up a silent prayer to who ever was listening that this ended in their favor, and that the cost was not anyone else in their pack.


	27. Strange Solutions

Chapter 27

As Derek descended the stairs, the change was clear to everyone in the room. His movements were controlled but the rage that simmered just below the surface was clear. Cora's eyes widened as he passed, nodding to Stiles who fell inline behind him. There was not trace of her sweet older brother, only the Alpha remand and that scared the girl more than a little bit because she did not know this version of her brother. Boyd and Isaac stepped forward, clearly waiting for orders, Derek paused,   
“Boyd stand guard, make sure that nothing moves outside, if you see anything weird, let me know.” The large wolf nodded, and took up is post by the windows, scanning the area but also understanding that Derek was asking him to keep watch over those inside as well. None of them trusted these people and Derek wanted him to protect his family from them. 

Approaching Isaac, Derek rested his hand on the boy's neck, pulling him in a bit, “I want you to go upstairs and help Erica with Lydia and Jacob. If she wakes up again, make sure she doesn't hurt herself okay,” Isaac nods, “She is in a lot of pain, try and siphon it if you can,” he adds in a low voice, his frustration at not being able to drain away at least some of Lydia's pain was clear. Isaac nods and jogs up the stairs. 

Sparing a weary glance over the others, he moves into the kitchen where Deaton and Melissa are clearing up the mess from Lydia's surgery and Deaton is doing something with a chemical test kit and microscope. 

Looking to the Alpha, Deaton sighs, “I think I have isolated the strain of wolf's bane that they used and I am brewing an antidote for it, but I am still trying to identify the other agent they used to poison her. That is what is causing her so much pain and I do not recognize it at all,” the vet admits, his annoyance at not knowing the solution to this problem is clear. Nodding Derek asks, “Once you neutralize the wolf's bane, she can use my healing ability right?”

Nodding Deaton adds, “Yes, but if this toxin is designed to combat werewolves, I don't know if your healing ability will help her.”

“So I need to find out what the toxin is,” Derek sighs, his mouth setting in a hard line and his brow tense.

“That would be best, but I am working on an alternate method of removing the toxin if I cannot neutralize it. It is not a sure bet, but it is a possibility.”

Understanding that the other man was not willing to share this possibility with him yet, Derek swallowed back the frustrated threat that he wanted to offer and nodded, “Just fix her, soon.” He growled before leading Jackson and Stiles out the back door. 

Rolling his neck, he was stopped from entering the newly soundproofed gym in his back yard by Allison and Scott. Scott was smeared a bit with blood, his hair disheveled, Allison was completely poised, her eyes hard and her hands steady as she loosely held a crossbow in in hand, a ring dagger tucked in the other palm. “Derek,” she began, her voice steady, but soft, betraying her reluctance to have this conversation, “Before you go in there, we need to establish something.”

“What?” He looked past her, trying to pick up any detail of the person who have attacked his family. 

“As far as we knew, he is human, so if you attack him, then you break the treaty,” her words snap his attention back to her, looking somewhere between confused and enraged, he barked out, “What! Allison he shot Lydia. He attacked first, what the hell are you talking about?”

Taking a deep breath, the hunter squared her shoulders and locker her eyes to his, “Derek, he is human. If you injure him, it breaks the treaty.”

Stiles caught her meaning and nodded, stepping forward, he looked at Scott, “I think Boyd needs help monitoring the perimeter, Scott and Jackson why don't you see to that. Allison and I can handle this.” Scott nods, looking almost relieved and Jackson quirks his head for a moment, looking to Derek who clues in at this point. Nodding to the betas he looks to Allison, “Are you sure you want to do this?”  
Clinching her teeth, she gives a curt nod, “She is my best friend.” 

Derek nods, realizing that for Allison this is personal too and that in someway the girl is trying to make up her betrayal to the pack by keeping them all out of this situation. Derek never even considered the treaty in his quest for blood to answer the blood spilled on his kitchen floor. But Allison knew that, while her father would understand this violation of the rules, others would not. And without knowing who what calling the shots in this particular fiasco, he needed to play it safe. 

Moving behind the girl, he allows her to led him into the outbuilding. Looking at the man, tied to a chair in the middle of the room, Derek tried to contain the primal need he felt to hurt him. Catching the man's eyes, he stood directly opposite him, crossing his arms, “Do you know who I am?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. The man, who looked to be about thirty, dark hair, flat blue eyes and built like a solider. Returned his hard stare and answered, “I know what you are.”

Chuckling, Derek scoffed, “Is that supposed to be an insult?” he moved closer, his movements controlled and predatory.

“Your kind is an abomination!” He spat. Derek looked up to Allison who delivered a swift blow to the man's face. 

“And what is your kind?” Stiles asked from where he had been standing observing this whole scene.  
That threw the captive man, “What do you mean? I am human,” he sputtered.

Stiles approached, arms crossed and every movement seemed relaxed but his eyes were sharp and hard, “Hmh,” Stiles tutted, “Perhaps, but you didn't just go for a stroll with your compound bow and decide to use the neighbor girl for target practice, so” he had completely circled the man now, “What are you?”

Derek looked to Allison, eyebrows raised, she shook her head, “He is not one of us,” she tilted her head, “But he has certainly been trained by someone. High end weapons, state of the art night vision, sniper training,” she listed off.

“Not to mention the unique combination of wolf's bane and other toxins laced arrows.” Stiles added, “No, you are an assassin, but for whom?” He asked again, still not breaking his cool facade. 

“How dare you question me! I am fighting for the preservation of humanity!” The shooter challenged.   
Chuckling, Stiles settles in front of the man for a moment, “You know, that is just funny because I don't think anyone would agree that shooting at babies is humane,” his voice was cordial but there was a deadly edge to it that made the assassin slink back a bit, “What, you thought that maybe no one would notice that you were not aiming for the girl that you hit? No, see, my dad is a Sheriff and I have seen more crime scenes and ballistic trajectories than some cops see in a life time and I know that your arrow was meant to hit the baby, unfortunately for you, his mother dove in front of it and saved him.” 

That made the man sputter, “Mother? That girl is his mother?” He asked. 

Leaning forward, Derek spoke again, drawing the man's attention back to him, “Yes, she his my son's mother,” His eyes flashed red for the first time and the man tried to repress a little shriek, “his human mother. Now I would like to know why you took a shot at my son and what type of toxin that you laced your arrows with,” looking behind the bound man before looking back down at him, he offered a terrifying smile, “And I would suggest you start talking soon because my friend here is just going to continue beating you until you have told us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” His last words were punctuation with the dull sounds of flesh hitting flesh as Allison began to attack his weakest points. 

Inside the house the hours passed slowly. Deaton, sighed and wiped his brow, testing yet another anecdote against the wolf's bane on the arrow. He had identified the strain, but it was a tricky one to combat. As the test strip changed colors, he barely believed his eyes, almost missing it due to his overwhelming exhaustion. Checking it again, and finding the same result, Deaton let out a deep sigh. He had done it, half of the problem was solved. Drawing the anecdote up in a syringe, he hurried up the stairs and into Lydia's room. Erica and Isaac were sitting on either side of her, trying to comfort her even in her unconscious state. As the vet entered the room, both of the young werewolves startled a bit at the intrusion. 

“I think I have figured out an antidote to the wolf's bane,” he explained, holding up; the syringe. Nodding Isaac stood, “How do we help?” he asked.

Walking over to the bed, Deaton took Lydia's vitals before addressing the boy, “Well her body may react violently to it so if one of you could hold her still, just to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” they both nod and Erica takes hold of the other girls shoulders and rib cage while Isaac steadies her hips. Taking a deep breath, Deaton injects the medication into the girl's IV port with a little prayer that this works. For a moment the room is still, just as he is about to signal the wolves to release the girl and continue his search for an anecdote Lydia's whole body starts to seize and twitch. Erica and Isaac hold her as steady as possible but she still thrashes violently. After a moment more her gasps give way to a gurgling noise and Deaton quickly grabs the trash can before rolling the girl onto her side and allowing her to vomit into the can. 

Both Isaac and Erica grimace in disgust as Lydia's body relaxes and Deaton moves swiftly to put the can in the bathroom. Before he can make it back to Lydia to check her vitals again, Derek is pushing open the door and is kneeling beside the girl. 

Looking from the door to the Alpha, Erica asked, “How did you...” she trailed off, looking at the pair in front of her. 

Pushing Lydia's hair back, Derek never takes his eyes off of her, “I could feel her,” he mumbles in response, “It was like whatever was blocking her just stopped and I could feel her pulling at my abilities,” he tried to explain as black veins snaked up his arms, pulling the pain from Lydia. 

“What is he doing to her?” Carol Martin asked from the door, no one having noticed her entrance.  
Rolling her eyes, Erica refused to answer the woman. After a beat, Peter came up behind her, “He is absorbing some of her pain.” The older wolf answered.

Sighing, Mrs. Martin nodded, “Thank you, then.” She said moving towards the bed, her eyes sharply focused on the pale girl in the middle of the bed. “I know what you all must think of me but,” she took a breath, trying to focus her thoughts, “but I really do love her.” 

Before anyone could respond to the woman, Lydia started to jerk again. Erica and Isaac quickly took hold of her again but her arms shot up and she grabbed Derek's face, both of their eyes turning the glowing green that they had all come to associate with Lydia's powers. As they breathed in together, the black veins began to reverse and lighten, eventually turning a pale silver as Lydia's back arched she let out a scream. As the sound on her scream dissipated so did the connection, dropping his head forward, Derek tried to slow his breath, his hands still cupping Lydia's face. Turning his face towards her, he rested his head beside hers on the pillow, watching her eyes slowly opened. As her green eyes focus he smiles, “Hey.”

She smiles softly, croaking out, “Hey yourself” before her forehead tenses in pain and she moans.

“Hey, hey, Lydia look at me,” Derek turns her face to try to maintain eye contact, “What is going on? Where does it hurt?”

Pressing her eyes shut, she tries to even her breathing. Suddenly the pain eases a bit, as if her nerve endings are suddenly released from the vices they had been held in. Opening her eyes, she realized what was happening when she saw the tension in creasing around Derek's eyes. “Derek,” she gasp out, still trying the even her breathing as she presses a hand to his chest, “Don't. I don't want any of you to feel this.”

Before he can respond, Erica slides her hand over Lydia's hip, avoiding her wound and pulling her pain as well, “Oh shut up Lydia,” the blonde snapped in her best mean girl voice, “You would do the same for us,” she finished, losing any bite her words may have had. 

Sighing in relief, Lydia reached down, squeezing Erica's hand. Finally evening her breath out, she fearfully asked, “Are Jacob and Isaac okay?”

Smiling, Derek caress her face, “They are fine,” he pressed a kiss to her forehead, “Your boys are fine, thanks to you.” Isaac grabs her calf in response, “I am right Lydia,” he whispers, smiling when she breaths out a “Thank God.”

“No, thank you,” he squeezed her calf as he started to leech her pain as well. 

She give him a soft smile before letting her eyes drift for a moment. Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, she turns her head to find her mother standing at the end of the bed. For the first time in a long time Lydia really looked at her mom; she had never seen her look so drawn and tired. Carol Martin was a woman who always made sure that she presented a perfectly control, perfectly put together-- a carefully crafted image. No matter how tempestuous their lives were, she was coiffed and ready for battle. However, as she stood at the foot of her daughter's bed, a bed she share with a man Carol didn't know and surrounded by this makeshift family of kids, Lydia could see the cracks in her mother's facade. Her skin was pale, mascara was rubbed around her eyes, highlighting the dark circles and her hair was stringy from her hands running through it. For a moment, Lydia felt sorry for her mom, maybe she did care about her. 

“What is wrong? What hurts?” Carol asks.

The undercurrent of sadness and helplessness in her mother's voice scared Lydia, sighing, she tried to gather her thoughts enough to answer, “Everything hurts,” she closes her eyes and presses her forehead to Derek's, “It is like all of my nerves are being electrocuted, I,” she gasped again, “It is pulsing with my heartbeat.” She tried to explain. 

Deaton nodded, coming up with theories and potential treatments as he moves forward to examine her wound. Pulling the bandages back, he was both shocked and relieved to see that the wound that could have killed her mere hours ago was healing nicely, if not as quickly as it would if she was a wolf. Reattaching the bandage he looked to Derek and then Lydia, “Lydia, I think it is best that we sedate you again while we figure out how to neutralize this toxin.”

“What do mean?” she asked, her mind still not working clearly because of the trauma and the pain.

“Well I can stop the pain, but I will have to knock you out to do it. Now that the wolf's bane is out of your system, your body is tapping into Derek's healing abilities but it is being slowed by the pain that you are in. IF I can stop that, your body can heal faster and we can focus on pin pointing the secondary toxin that is causing you so much pain.”

“How are you going to narrows that field, there are too many possibilities,” she panted out. 

Derek grimaced as he ran his thumb along her cheek, still taking as much of her pain as he could, “We caught the shooter and we are trying to get him to tell us what was in the arrow.”

“We?” she questioned, allowing her eyes to close as he rubbed her cheek.

“Allison and Stiles are with him now. I was down there but I could feel you pulling on my healing factors so I came up here to help you.” He explained.

Nodding she continued, “You can't hurt him Derek, the treaty,” 

He smiled as he cut her off, “I know, Allison has been doing the physical part.”

Nodding, she tried to smile, “She is trying to earn her way back in,” squeezing Erica's hand, Lydia let the girl know that she should realize what Allison was doing for them. Erica squeezed the redhead's hand in return, trying desperately not to cry openly. 

“I know baby,” he whispered, “Now you need to let Deaton give you the meds so you can heal.”  
At her subtle nod, Deaton left the room to prepare the cocktail of drugs that he was going to use to put Lydia under. 

Opening her eyes again, she asked, “Jacob?”

Smiling, Derek told her. “He is sleeping right now, he misses you so you need to heal fast.”

“Make sure that this toxin won't affect him, okay,” she made him promise as Deaton injected her IV with the medication and her consciousness started to fade. 

“I promise,” Derek pressed a kiss to her forehead as she drifts out. After a moment of just holding her, Derek sat up on his knees, reaching over to squeeze Erica's hand, he offered the beta a smile. Standing, he crossed the room to check on Jacob, smiling down at the baby who was sleeping peacefully, wrapped in the blue silk blanket that Lydia had insisted that he needed. Breathing in the sent of is son, Derek fortified himself as he heard Stiles enter the house. 

“Hey sourwolf, I know you can hear me, come down here, we found out what he did to Lydia,” Stiles said tiredly, not wanting to disturb the house but needing to get the Alpha's attention. Looking to Erica,   
Derek nodded to her and she nodded back before he turned and started for the door. 

“What? What is going on?” Carol asked as Derek passed her and Deaton followed him. Looking back at her daughter once more, she quickly followed the men downstairs, desperate for information on her only child. 

As Derek arrived in the living room he was hit by the smell of blood and fear hanging off of Stiles, “Allison?” he raised his eyebrows at the boy.

“Cleaning up,” Stiles answers and, not for the first time, Derek sees the true mettle of this boy. He was stronger that Scott in many ways, colder and more willing to make difficult decisions and his morality was much murkier than his best friend. Stiles had a darkness born or pain and loss and that was something that Derek understood. He nodded, knowing that the process had gotten messy. 

“So, what did you find out?” The Alpha asked. 

“Well, it isn't good,” he starts, looking at the floor. 

Peter stepped out of the foyer, arms crossed, “What is it Stiles?” He asked darkly. 

“Did he know what type of toxin,” Deaton began. 

“That's just it,” Stiles looks at the floor, “It isn't a poison that is hurting Lydia, it is a spell.”

“What?” Derek snaps.

Nodding the younger man looks up at him, “Yeah, he was aiming for Jacob, they know that he is a wolf so they laced the arrows with wolf's bane so it wouldn't heal and they were spelled with a spell that should, and would, have killed a wolf. Lydia isn't a wolf so it didn't kill her right away but,” he paused, looking full on at the group, “It is corrupting her nervous system, the longer it stays in her system, the worse it will get. It wasn't designed for her so it isn't asking as quickly as it would with one of you but, it is still killing her.” His voice started to break at the end of his speech. 

Derek brought his hands up to his head, running one hand through his hair and the other over his face as he dropped down to the couch behind him. Shaking his head he mumbled, “No, no. I refuse to accept this, she is not,” he sucked in a hard breath, trying to suppress tears, “Just, no.”

Peter stepped forward, squeezing his nephew's shoulder as he turned and locked eyes with Lydia's mother, “Carol, I think it is time you came clean.”

Breaking eye contact with the man that she had avoided for years she crossed her arms in a defensive motion, “Peter,” she warned. 

“Dammit Carol this is your chance to step up and take care of your girl for once. You have to do this or she is going to die,” his voice was hard and cold as he crossed to her and grabbed her chin in a harsh grasp, forcing her to look into his eyes, “She risked her life to save her child, she is dying because she protected him, the least you can do is act like a mother and help her or are you really the self centered bitch you pretend to be?”

Tears welling up, she looks away for a moment before nodding, “Okay, I will try, of course I will try she is my,” she sobbed, “She is baby and I just want her to be okay.” Dropping his hand e took a step back and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she turns towards the stairs as if she is checking with her unconscious daughter before spinning, fire in her eyes as she finds Deaton, “Do you have what I will need?”

Sputtering for a moment, Deaton did a quick inventory of the herbs and magical paraphernalia that he had in his mobile unit and he gave her a grave nod before looking to Peter for an explanation. 

“Later” Peter mouthed as he moved to the door to collect what Carol would need to neutralize the spell from Deaton's van. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Derek stands to mount the stairs, this night just took an even weirder turn.


End file.
